Many religious congregations, especially those with international networks, have invested heavily in this opportunity and will run complementary programmes. Many other religious join in the activities of dioceses and schools. Across the country countless leaders have been formed and prepared for ongoing roles in young adult ministry.
Mark Raper SJ, pathways, June 2008
Following is a taste of the effort being put into supporting World Youth Day ...
Sisters of the Good Samaritan
Franciscan Friars
Marist Brothers
Sisters of Mercy
Christian Brothers / Edmund Rice Network
MAGiS08 - the Jesuits, Loreto Sisters, Sisters of Charity, Religious of the Sacred Heart and Faithful Companions of Jesus
Sisters of the Good Samaritan
The Sisters of the Good Samaritan will host a World Youth Day event public lecture on July 16. The guest speaker will be Abbot Christopher Jamison (from the TV series, The Monastery - the UK forerunner of Australia's The Abbey) speaking on Finding happiness: monastic steps for a fulfilling life. The lecture will be held at St Scholastica's College, Glebe Point (Sydney) from 7.30pm. Admission is by donation.
(further information: 02 8752 5300)
Brisbane will host the 2008 International Franciscan
Gathering with Youth at which the youth of the world will come together for a celebration of the Franciscan faith a week before World Youth Day in Sydney.
International guest speakers, a live concert and a cultural festival, as well as a Greening Australia rehabilitation program will be part of the fun which will invite young people to experience the true universality of the Catholic faith as well as that of the Franciscan way of life.
The International Franciscan Gathering with Youth will meet with the theme, Saint Francis. Contemplation for action; yesterday, today, tomorrow, from July 10-13, at Kedron.
Then the focus will shift to Sydney - and initially Bondi beach.
"Come to the Water" (Is 55:1) is the theme for the Franciscan Friars
Youth Festival, a celebration of Christian unity on July 16.
Beginning at 2.30pm and continuing on until 8.30pm the day's programme boasts an impressive line-up of international speakers and musicians including Master of Ceremonies Br. Bill Short OFM, guest speaker Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier OFM, international musicians include the "Rapping Franciscan" Fr Stan Fortuna, the Matt Maher Band, Passion and Sam Clear who will be sharing his amazing testimony or walking around the world.
Then, amidst the chaos of World Youth Day activities, the Friaris will provide spaces for pilgrims to rejuvenate, take time out, chat with a friar or just simply spend some quiet time in prayer. The Franciscans will host several locations as
prayer havens throughout the CBD of Sydney.
Marist Brothers
The Marist Brothers Sydney Province will welcome young pilgrims from Australia and around the world to the
Marist International Festival, July 9-13, as a lead into the World Youth Day celebrations.
Although the Marist International Festival - a four-day retreat-style experience - will be focussed around St Joseph's College, Hunter's Hill (Sydney) it will begin at The Hermitage, Mittagong, the spiritual heartland of those connected with the Australian Marist story. Gathering on July 10 to Ignite the Heart, the keynote address will be delivered by Sir William Deane.
The next day participants will begin to Embrace the Vision by responding creatively to international guest speaker, Br Cesar Henriquez, who currently works as an advocate for the Rights of the Child in Geneva. Taize style prayer will be experienced in the evening.
They will then explore the possibilities to Transform the World in workshops with a huge diversity of social justice and spirituality presenters, with a keynote address from Bishop Kevin Dowling, Bishop of Rustenberg, South Africa, as well as socialise at the Big Marist Lunch, and cruise the harbour before an evening at Luna Park.
On Sunday, July 13, the Young Marists will welcome the World Youth Day Cross and Icon before being commissioned and called to action by Br Sean Sammon, Superior General of the Marist Brothers. Mass will follow with Archbishop Mark Coleridge (Canberra-Goulburn) as the principal celebrant.
Sisters of Mercy
Sydney based Mercy Schools have invited Mercy students and staff from Australia and the world to Monte Sant Angelo Mercy College, North Sydney, to share a Mercy day as a leading into World Youth Day activities.
The day will focus on
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Key note speakers sharing their Mercy experiences: Briannon Stevens, a Mercy ex-student who works in Brisbane at the Micah Homelessness Project; Melanie Hogan, a Mercy ex-student and driector of the film, Kanyini, which offers an accessible account of Indigenous Australia since the arrival of non-Indigenous peoples; Louise Campbell who speaks movingly on reconciliation; Richard Campbell, renown Indigenous artist.
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An interactive Social Action Fair featuring a number of organisations working in the area of social justice.
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Workshops exploring what it means to be Mercy.
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A fun, upbeat, interactive and motivational workshop presented by Essere (To Be).
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Opportunities to meet people from other Mercy schools.
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An exploration of Australian Indigenous Spirituality.
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And just for fun a bush dance.
Christian Brothers / Edmund Rice Network
More than 100 young adult leaders in the Edmund Rice network will gather in Sydney for a conference just before World Youth Day begins.
They are coming from all over the world and will meet under the banner of International Edmund Rice Network Young Adult Justice Gathering.
To be held from July 10-13 and to be hosted by the Edmund Rice Network (ERN) and Christian Brothers of Oceania, the event will enable young leaders to discuss and plan future responses of the ERN to issues of injustice.
The post-school young adults (aged 18 to 35 years) who have been chosen to attend the event currently are, or have the potential to be, leaders in their region - within and outside the ERN.
Those attending from Australia and New Zealand, and the Christian Brothers of Oceania, are contributing funds to bring young adults from the Network from Southern, East, and West Africa, Latin America, India, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands. Also invited are young adults from England, Ireland and North America.
The week is divided into two parts: learning and input, and dreaming and planning.
For the first phase, approximately 40 individuals and groups from within and beyond the ERN have been approached to run workshops on topics they choose in the areas of:
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Issues effecting Indigenous Peoples in Australia and beyond
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The environment, eco-justice and eco-spirituality
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Refugees and Asylum Seekers
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Issues that effect women
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Catholic Social Teaching
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The Millennium Development Goals
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Fair Trade
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Justice and peace spirituality
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Active non-violence
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Wellness and self care
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Educating for justice
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Sexuality
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Living in community
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Interfaith dialogue
The second phase of the gathering, covering dreaming and planning, will give leaders time to produce visionary documents, create networks among themselves and with Christian Brothers in leadership, and commit to action, awareness raising, and advocacy.
According to Ms Johanna Archibald, organiser of the event and coordinator World Youth Day Edmund Rice, enthusiasm for the gathering had been overwhelming and given the calibre of people attending it had the potential to have a significant impact on the future of the Edmund Rice Network.
With World Youth Day occurring the following week, it is anticipated the young leaders will stay in Sydney to engage with WYD in the context of all they have learned at the Justice Gathering.
(further information: Johann Archibald 0400 262 410)
MAGiS08 - the Jesuits, Loreto Sisters, Sisters of Charity, Religious of the Sacred Heart and Faithful Companions of Jesus
According to
Province Express, MAGiS08 will present a jam-packed Youth Festival, to be held alongside the Inigo Film Festival, in assoication with World Youth Day in July.
Featuring a diversity of workshops, forums and screenings, and representing a range of cultures and nationalities, the festivals will take place in Sydney's Milsons Point and Kirribilli over three days, from Wednesday July 16 to Friday July 18.
More than 40 events are billed for the youth festival: workshops for young men and women who may question their faith and for those passionate about social justice and women's issues; discernment workshops and physical workshops like Tai Chi and meditative yoga, screenings about social justice issues, and forums headed by people such as Ephigenia Gachichi, the first Kenyan Loreto nun and Sam Clear, a young man who has recently completed a 29,000km, round-the-world pilgrimage.
The internationally-acclaimed University of Visayas Choir of Cebu promises to be one of the highlights of the MAGiS Youth Festival. Comprising 25 young students from the island of Cebu in the Philippines, the choir will also tour regional NSW during their third visit to Australia. Visayas University Choir of Cebu will perform on Wednesday, July 16, from 3.30pm-4.30pm, at St Aloysius.
MAGiS is a long-term project designed to foster Ignatian spirituality in young adults aged 18 to 30. Itds aim is to produce leaders, people with a sense of God's place in their lives and a capacity to do something to build a better world. MAGiS08, the Ignatian program with World Youth Day 2008, is the first major project under this ministry.
MAGiS08 has several elements:
Sunday, July 6 - Friday, July 11
The experiments in the MAGiS08 program are about challenging young people to take a risk, test themselves, and examine what happens.
Each MAGiS08 experiment will gather 20-25 participants from different nationalities for about a week in locations across
Asia and Australia. There are three themes: creative, pilgrimage and service. Each experiment will have one theme.
Saturday, July 12 - Monday, July 14
The second portion of the MAGiS08 program is a three day Youth Festival, where everyone from experiments around Australia and Asia will come together to celebrate the journey traveled so far. A total of 2000 participants are expected. Pilgrims will rest and rejuvinate, pray and celebrate, and continue on the journey.
Monday, July 21 - Sunday, July 27
A time to journey deeper into the heart of Australia. MAGiS08 will offer pilgrimages in late July for those who were unable to take part in experiments. It's a time to reflect further on the experiences of World Youth Day and continue in an Ignatian way.
pathways would like to hear from other Religious Congregations - either pre- or post-WTD08 - about your involvement.
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