'The hope of the church'

By SARAH KENNEDY, Globe and Mail Update

Canada AM: Father Michael Bechard, World Youth Day.

At the end of the Jubilee Year of the Redemption in 1984, a holy year declared by the Pontiff to mark the 1,950 anniversary of the Redemption, the Pope invited world's youth to gather in Rome for a special celebration - and more than 300,000 young Catholics showed up.

There, the Pope entrusted to the young people a simple cross made from planks of wood to carry as a symbol of their faith.

The following year marked the United Nations International Year of Youth and the Pope used the occasion to extend a second invitation to the young people. This time, 400,000 people flooded to the streets of Rome on Palm Sunday.

The success of these events inspired John Paul to create a much larger and more powerful biennial event to be organized by the Catholic church.

World Youth Day is celebrated every year on Palm Sunday on a local scale, but a massive international gathering is held every two to three years in select cities around the world. There was a three-year interval after WYD in Paris in 1997 to allow the event to next take place in the Jubilee Year of 2000, which was held in Rome.

The festivities include prayer, music and film from all corners of the globe. Youth also take part in charity work and social service by visiting hospitals, volunteering at food banks and taking on environmental projects in the host city.

Young pilgrims, aged 16 to 35, have several opportunities to interact with the Pope during the week-long celebration. Traditionally the Pontiff welcomes his followers in an opening ceremony, he celebrates mass for the audience and has opened overnight vigils.

At this WYD, a Papal welcoming ceremony will be held at Exhibition Place on Thursday, July 25. Two days later, the Pope will lead young people in an evening vigil at the Downsview Lands on Saturday, July 27. The next morning, the Pope will celebrate a mass there in a climax of the 17th World Youth Day on the theme of "You Are the Salt of the Earth, the Light of the World."

In a speech given in 1999 the Pope said WYD was set up as meaningful moments of rest for young people along their journeys as Christians.

Since the first WYD held in 1986, the holy cross has been carried across the world, traveling by plane, dog sled, pick-up truck, tractor and sail boat. It has made appearances in every Canadian province and territory.

Aside from Rome, previous celebrations have taken place in Buenos Aires, Santiago de Compostela, Czestochowa, Denver, Manilla, Paris and Rome to mark the beginning of this Millennium.

The largest attendance in WYD history was in the Philippines in 1995, when 4.5-million people flocking to the impoverished country to celebrate their faith.

This year it is Toronto's turn to play host. But the Canadian celebration may prove to be one of the smaller gatherings with an anticipated crowd of 200,000