This week, many hundreds of thousands of young people have gathered in Lisbon, Portugal for World Youth Day. Some 3,000 Australians are among them.
World Youth Day has become the largest regular gathering of young people in the world. The size and scale of this Catholic religious event, and its generation of tourism and mass media coverage, help define the gathering as a mega-event with international significance.
Since its inception, Australians have participated in each of the international gatherings, and over the years this participation has grown and diversified. Perhaps the most influential factor in this, described by some as a "watershed moment", was the impact of an Australian city hosting the event.
With the occasion of World Youth Day XXIII in Sydney in 2008, Australians had unrestricted access to an international mega-event, and to one of the hallmark events of the Catholic Church around the world.
As a result of the Sydney experience, World Youth Day became a popular cultural and religious reference point for many young Catholics. It was no longer an experience restricted to a relatively small number of very religious pilgrims, or an event to be learned of vicariously.
Teenagers in particular had a growing interest in the event, and this is evident in the increased numbers of school-aged pilgrims who have attended the international gatherings post-Sydney, and who are travelling to Lisbon.
For many, World Youth Day represents a few days of frenetic activity involving the pope and millions of young people, a hybrid event which merges the festive and the sacred.
This is not the case for Australians. Travelling from the “Great South Land of the Holy Spirit” takes time. When compared to their European and North American counterparts, the sacrifices of Australian pilgrims are generally greater, especially regarding the cost and duration of travel.
However, the sacrifices are often blessings.
Most Australians who attend World Youth Day participate in a pilgrimage prior to the international gathering. This experience is used by many of the Australian groups as a time of pastoral and spiritual preparation. They have often found that pilgrims’ religious motivation, awareness and consciousness develops significantly during the pilgrimage, especially amongst those with little or no connection to faith.
Importantly, these pilgrimages are also a time when a common bond and camaraderie is forged between the pilgrims. This is especially the case when they experience inconveniences and hardships along the way.
The journey to Lisbon has taken some 1,000 Sydneysiders on a range of pilgrimage trails: the Holy Land, Italy and Spain. And all of them have been unrelentingly hot locations, further exacerbated by the pilgrims having left Australia in the middle of Winter.
Before their departure, I had the opportunity to survey many of the Sydney pilgrims about their hopes. What struck me was their raw enthusiasm for the experience that lay ahead. Many looked to the benefits and suggested that the financial costs of the pilgrimage and the time away from family, friends, work and study were worthwhile sacrifices to make.
I found that a diversity of factors – personal, social and religious - underpinned their motivations to go to World Youth Day. No matter the reason, the international gathering was perceived as an experience of great value, and there were expectations of inner fulfillment and personal growth. I believe that much of this positivity was influenced by the testimonies of past pilgrims who described the event as “life changing”.
While a significant proportion of the pilgrims might be described as highly religious, many also appear to be drawn from across the religio-spiritual spectrum. I found that this was especially true of the school-aged pilgrims.
The contrasting dispositions of adult and school aged pilgrims were borne out in what they considered the anticipated benefits of attending World Youth Day. Students highlighted the appeal of meeting new people from around the world; making new friends; visiting places only ever read or heard about; bonding with fellow pilgrims and deepening their relationship with God.
By contrast, adult pilgrims highlighted the significance of: a personal experience of the transcendent; deepening their relationship with God; experiencing moments of personal and spiritual reflection; experiencing the ‘sacred’ in the places visited while on pilgrimage, and feeling a part of the wider Church.
Although the student and adult pilgrims had divergent views regarding the perceived benefits of World Youth Day, they were consistent in naming the Final Mass and the pilgrimage as being the most important elements.
They were also consistent in expressing another hope. They wanted to experience a sense of belonging. They were not only concerned with making new social friends but hoped to connect with other pilgrims through shared experiences and celebrating their faith together. They looked to World Youth Day as potentially a cathartic experience, a time when they might feel comfortable in expressing and sharing their faith with others, and in some instances, feeling proud of their faith.
So, as World Youth Day begins, the question is: will the Aussie pilgrims find what they seek?
This week, many hundreds of thousands of young people have gathered in Lisbon, Portugal for World Youth Day. Some 3,000 Australians are among them.
World Youth Day has become the largest regular gathering of young people in the world. The size and scale of this Catholic religious event, and its generation of tourism and mass media coverage, help define the gathering as a mega-event with international significance.
Since its inception, Australians have participated in each of the international gatherings, and over the years this participation has grown and diversified. Perhaps the most influential factor in this, described by some as a "watershed moment", was the impact of an Australian city hosting the event.
With the occasion of World Youth Day XXIII in Sydney in 2008, Australians had unrestricted access to an international mega-event, and to one of the hallmark events of the Catholic Church around the world.
As a result of the Sydney experience, World Youth Day became a popular cultural and religious reference point for many young Catholics. It was no longer an experience restricted to a relatively small number of very religious pilgrims, or an event to be learned of vicariously.
Teenagers in particular had a growing interest in the event, and this is evident in the increased numbers of school-aged pilgrims who have attended the international gatherings post-Sydney, and who are travelling to Lisbon.
For many, World Youth Day represents a few days of frenetic activity involving the pope and millions of young people, a hybrid event which merges the festive and the sacred.
This is not the case for Australians. Travelling from the “Great South Land of the Holy Spirit” takes time. When compared to their European and North American counterparts, the sacrifices of Australian pilgrims are generally greater, especially regarding the cost and duration of travel.
However, the sacrifices are often blessings.
Most Australians who attend World Youth Day participate in a pilgrimage prior to the international gathering. This experience is used by many of the Australian groups as a time of pastoral and spiritual preparation. They have often found that pilgrims’ religious motivation, awareness and consciousness develops significantly during the pilgrimage, especially amongst those with little or no connection to faith.
Importantly, these pilgrimages are also a time when a common bond and camaraderie is forged between the pilgrims. This is especially the case when they experience inconveniences and hardships along the way.
The journey to Lisbon has taken some 1,000 Sydneysiders on a range of pilgrimage trails: the Holy Land, Italy and Spain. And all of them have been unrelentingly hot locations, further exacerbated by the pilgrims having left Australia in the middle of Winter.
Before their departure, I had the opportunity to survey many of the Sydney pilgrims about their hopes. What struck me was their raw enthusiasm for the experience that lay ahead. Many looked to the benefits and suggested that the financial costs of the pilgrimage and the time away from family, friends, work and study were worthwhile sacrifices to make.
I found that a diversity of factors – personal, social and religious - underpinned their motivations to go to World Youth Day. No matter the reason, the international gathering was perceived as an experience of great value, and there were expectations of inner fulfillment and personal growth. I believe that much of this positivity was influenced by the testimonies of past pilgrims who described the event as “life changing”.
While a significant proportion of the pilgrims might be described as highly religious, many also appear to be drawn from across the religio-spiritual spectrum. I found that this was especially true of the school-aged pilgrims.
The contrasting dispositions of adult and school aged pilgrims were borne out in what they considered the anticipated benefits of attending World Youth Day. Students highlighted the appeal of meeting new people from around the world; making new friends; visiting places only ever read or heard about; bonding with fellow pilgrims and deepening their relationship with God.
By contrast, adult pilgrims highlighted the significance of: a personal experience of the transcendent; deepening their relationship with God; experiencing moments of personal and spiritual reflection; experiencing the ‘sacred’ in the places visited while on pilgrimage, and feeling a part of the wider Church.
Although the student and adult pilgrims had divergent views regarding the perceived benefits of World Youth Day, they were consistent in naming the Final Mass and the pilgrimage as being the most important elements.
They were also consistent in expressing another hope. They wanted to experience a sense of belonging. They were not only concerned with making new social friends but hoped to connect with other pilgrims through shared experiences and celebrating their faith together. They looked to World Youth Day as potentially a cathartic experience, a time when they might feel comfortable in expressing and sharing their faith with others, and in some instances, feeling proud of their faith.
So, as World Youth Day begins, the question is: will the Aussie pilgrims find what they seek?
