Dublin youngsters join Cologne pilgrimage
Hundreds of young people set off from Dublin this morning, to join an estimated one million worshippers for a special Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict in Germany.
They are among almost 2,000 young people from across Ireland making the pilgrimage to Cologne for the 20th World Youth Day.
Around 400 people left in a convoy of eight coaches from Dublin today, with another 300 setting off from around the country in a pilgrimage organised by Catholic Youth Care.
The group, led by Fr Jim Caffrey, includes pilgrims from 22 different nationalities who will take part in a week of prayer, music, dance, and reflections beginning on Tuesday.
Fr Caffrey said the event was one of the most significant in recent years for young Catholics.
“Many are travelling to pay homage to the late Pope John Paul II. But one thing unites them all and that is their faith. For many it is a life-changing experience,” he said.
Pilgrimage Co-ordinator for Catholic Youth Care Gerard Gallagher said the young people, who are mostly aged between 19 and 21, were very excited about the trip, and a little nervous about their long journey.
“The event is important for the solidarity factor – we have young people coming from different countries and different cultures, and the one thing that unites them is their faith.
“It’s a great barrier breakdown. I don’t believe there is any other event that is similar,” he said.
The young people from the Catholic Youth Care group will be staying in community centres and with host families in a parish near to the city centre.
Other groups have been making their way from around Ireland by ferry, plane and coach.
Earlier this week, Bishop Donal Keown led the first delegation of more than 110 people from the dioceses of Down and Connor and Armagh.
The event is the largest of its kind to be held in Europe this year and also marks the Pontiff’s first trip abroad since his election last April and his first visit to his native Germany as Pope.
The first World Youth Day was held by Pope John Paul II in Italy in 1985 and was attended by around 500,000 people, many of whom had travelled from abroad to see him.
Mr Gallagher said the founding of the event had been one of the most prophetic acts of John Paul II’s papacy and that the Pope’s meeting with young people in Galway in 1979 had been part of the inspiration for starting World Youth Day.
This year, up to one million people from around the world will journey in Cologne for the event.
Over the course of the week, the young people have a daily programme consisting of catechesis sessions – talks given by bishops and Cardinals to young people on a particular theme, which this year is from the Gospel account of the Magi, “We come to adore him”.
The highlight of the week will be Pope Benedict’s arrival on Thursday by boat down the Rhine.
On Saturday the Pope will hold a prayer vigil, followed by an overnight camp-out before the Mass on Sunday is celebrated at a specially made altar on a man-made hill at Marienfeld, 15 miles outside Cologne.
Construction workers have laid out 30 miles of new roads around the site and built a 30 foot high Pope’s Hill on which the altar will stand.
The pilgrims will be joined by a number of Irish bishops including Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Cardinal Desmond Connell, as well as bishops from dioceses around the country.
A group of 19 first-aid specialists from the Irish Order of Malta will also be in attendance at World Youth Day to provide first-aid services to the young people.
Dame Winnie Maye, Deputy Director of the Order of Malta Ambulance Corps, said: “It is a great honour to have been asked to provide first-aid services at this, Pope Benedict’s first event outside Italy, made more special by the fact that the Pope is a member of the Order of Malta.”
