A large wooden cross, its gleaming brown surface etched with the words “Blessed are the merciful…,” was at the heart of Palm Sunday Mass at Cathedral Church of the Sacred Heart when Bishop Michael Sis blessed it before beginning its journey through the San Angelo Diocese.
Following the Mass on March 20, the Pilgrim Cross was transported from San Angelo to Abilene. Throughout the spring and summer months leading up to World Youth Day on July 30, the cross will travel many miles visiting parishes in 29 counties (see schedule here).
“This large cross will serve to focus our prayerful preparation for our local World Youth Day event,” Sis said in a news release from the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo.
Simultaneous to the journey of the Pilgrim Cross, a World Youth Day cross has been blessed at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and is being transported throughout Europe.
World Youth Day, an encounter with the pope, is held in a different country every three years, according to a website for the event. Instituted by Pope John Paul II, the first WYD was held in 1986 in Rome. This year’s event will be in Krakow, Poland.
Eleven people from the San Angelo Diocese will travel to WYD, said Sister Adelina Garcia, OSF, the associate director of the diocese’s Office of Evangelization and Catechesis for Youth and Young Adult Ministry.
“This is the first time we’re doing a stateside diocesan event” in conjunction with World Youth Day, said Roselva Ruiz, event chair. “It has been asked from Pope Francis that no young person should be excluded.”
In answering both Pope Francis’ and Bishop Sis’ calls to include the diocese’s young adults, the Church is letting them know “the Church needs them, the Church loves them, and we are listening to them,” Ruiz said.
Garcia said a young adult representing each of the 35 parishes hosting the cross was provided a resource book of ideas on how to celebrate during the cross’ stay.
“The parishes will have the cross for approximately three days,” she said. “They’ll have a pilgrimage, a day of prayers, a retreat – whatever they want to do. When our young adults visit Poland, they’ll be taking the prayers with them that they received at each parish. They’ll offer the prayers up at each site they visit in Poland.”
After its journey around West Texas, the Pilgrim Cross will return to San Angelo on July 30, when a diocesan celebration will be held at the McNease Convention Center in conjunction with the World Youth Day vigil in Poland, Garcia said. The event will include communication via Skype between young adults observing WYD in San Angelo and those who attend the event in Poland, Garcia said, as well as live, international streaming.
WYD in San Angelo will also feature a catechesis with Bishop Sis, speakers, multi-lingual recitation of the Rosary, live music, Reconciliation, Stations of the Cross and a closing Mass.
“We want the young people to feel a part of this endeavor because it’s worldwide, and we want them to feel connected,” Sister Garcia said. “The Church seems to be getting old whenever we forget to include them; we forget there’s this energy out there.”
The stateside observation of World Youth Day will require work from many volunteers, as well as donations, Garcia added. To contribute, contact the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis and make checks payable to the Diocese of San Angelo.