Pope energized next generation through World Youth Day events
By Michelle L. Klampe
mklampe@VenturaCountyStar.com
(April 2, 2005)
For two decades, Pope John Paul II reached out to the young
people of the world, bringing thousands of them together every
two or three years for international celebrations.
The World Youth Day conferences became a defining characteristic
of his papacy. Pope John Paul saw the events as a way to reach
out to the next generation of Catholics, demonstrate his confidence
in them, and rejuvenate the church and carry forth its teachings,
according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"His concern for youth, this is one of the things that
made this pope unique," said the Rev. Antonio Joy Zabala
of Mary Star of Sea parish in Oxnard.
At World Youth Day in Toronto, the pope's message was, "
'Listen, you guys now take up the torch.' He engaged us as
adults," said James Campbell, a 27-year-old Ojai native
who attended the 2002 event.
"Now it's our turn to be good stewards of the culture.
He said you need to pay attention to the cultures of the world.
Pay attention to the exuberance of commercialism. His message
is you need to be careful with this."
The first World Youth Day celebrations were held in Rome
in 1984 and 1985. Since then, young Catholics have gathered
every two or three years in locations around Europe, South
America and North America.
The United States hosted World Youth Day in Denver in 1993.
The next event is scheduled for Cologne, Germany, this summer.
Campbell, a master's student at the University of California,
Davis, and a graduate of Thomas Aquinas College, joined area
residents and Thomas Aquinas students who traveled to Toronto
to see the pope.
"It was really amazing going there. The first thing
that stood out was really how international it was,"
Campbell said. "These were people who were just like
me, but they left their homes and came all the way to Toronto
to express their faith. It was amazing. We were all united
in the same fashion. We were all united in faith."
Jeff Patton traveled to Toronto with a group of 19 teenagers
and six adults from St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Ojai. He
enjoyed the experience so much, he's planning to return for
the Germany event.
"It was just a fun time, meeting people from all over
the world, and getting to see the pope," said Patton,
now 20. "I remember when he was flying in the helicopter
above the crowd, everybody just broke down and started crying."
Deborah Smith, a 19-year-old from the Ojai parish, said watching
the pontiff on television doesn't carry the impact of seeing
him up close and in person.
"It just really hits home," she said.
In an address during the Toronto event, the pope offered
thanks and praise for the celebration and the youths who have
attended World Youth Day events.
"Millions of young people have taken part, and as a
result have become better and more committed Christian witnesses,"
he said in the address. "I am especially thankful to
you, who have responded to my invitation to come here to Toronto
in order to tell the world of the happiness you have found
in meeting Jesus Christ, of your desire to know him better,
of how you are committed to proclaiming the gospel of salvation
to the ends of the Earth."
Smith remembers something else the pope said in Toronto.
"He basically made a promise that he was going to be
in Germany" for World Youth Day in 2005. He also indicated
it would be his last youth day, she said. That's one reason
she wanted to go back.
"I was one of those people who said (after Toronto)
I'm not doing it again," Smith said. "It didn't
really impact me until I got home. You come back, and the
people you went with are like family."
Bonnie Patton, Jeff's mother and the organizer of the Thomas
Aquinas parish trips, said the World Youth Day events have
helped connect the young people in her church to their parish.
After returning from Toronto, the young people from that
group began teaching catechism classes, became altar servers
and got involved in other ministries of the church, Patton
said.
"They're more enthused about their faith, and excited
about being Catholic," she said. "They're not afraid
to say, 'This is who I am.' "
As they prepared for Germany, the 16 youths participating
in the trip held fundraising car washes together, they volunteered
together and they worshipped together.
The trips have allowed the young people to "see the
church beyond St. Thomas Ojai," she said. That's one
reason she got involved in the program.
"I wanted them to realize the church is worldwide, and
no matter where you go, it's the same, and the pope really
cares about young people," she said. "I wanted them
to see that his role in the church is so important that people
are willing to make that journey."
The Rev. Michael Perea, a chaplain at Thomas Aquinas College
who accompanied Campbell's group to Toronto, said the pope
is a father figure for the younger generation of Catholics,
in part because he has been so visible throughout the world.
Each time the pope fell ill, the chapel at the small Santa
Paula college filled with students praying for his health,
Perea said.
"For most of these kids, he's the only pope they've
ever known. A lot of them think he is almost immortal,"
Perea said. "He's had a great impact. The kids here love
him."
This article originally appeared in the Ventura County
Star on April 2, 2005. Reprinted from venturacountystar.com
with express permission.
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