Remembering World Youth Day 2005
We came - we saw - we worshipped
"World Youth Day was an exhilarating experience. It allowed me to learn new aspects of the faith and enabled me to start praying on a more meaningful level.
It was a ‘mad’ time and a very comfortable one too. I left WYD feeling more confident about myself and my faith.
In short it was the best religious experience/pilgrimage/holiday I have ever had"
World Youth Day 2005 … in our own words
"What are we going to do for twelve days?" "Is it all praying?" "What will happen if they don't speak English?" These were the questions we asked before we travelled to World Youth Day, nervous about meeting so many people, and completely unsure about what to expect. We were a group of sixty, travelling in partnership with another seventy young people from Arundel and Brighton Diocese, and so the mixing began before we even left England. Here were other young people just like us, with the same interests and the same questions about faith and church.
We arrived late in the evening in Holland, where we were staying in host families. We were met with handshakes, lots of smiles, a beer and a barbecue: it felt like a very personal, special welcome. In one parish, the people lined the streets as our coach pulled up, and the church bells rang to let the whole village know we had arrived. Over the next few days we really got to know our host families well: it felt comfortable being in their homes, and if we needed anything they went out of their way to help us. 
We did some community service - clearing up a graveyard, entertaining the residents in a care home with English songs, and hosting a traditional English tea with scones and strawberry jam!
Whatever we did for them, though, was nothing compared to what they did for us. We went on a city tour through tunnels underneath 's-Hertogenbosch, we played Dutch party games in the grounds of a floodlit castle, we went to a Christian rock festival, visited sand dunes, enjoyed boat trips along the canals, and all the time in an atmosphere that was full of strong spirituality and wonderful friendship. We prayed together and it did not matter that the language was different: we could see that we shared the same faith in Jesus Christ, and that we were all there for the same reason. Whole parishes came alive with the energy of the young people - the Dutch, us, and other groups from Canada, Spain, Brazil, Ghana, Rwanda and Latvia.
Looking back on it, this was all just like a warm up for the events in Cologne: the Dutch days were special because they were very intimate. Suddenly, in Cologne, we were with hundreds of thousands of young people. We each have different highlights from those days. 
For Clare, it was the opening Mass; "We celebrated Mass as it has never been celebrated before," she said, "with Mexican waves, dancing, and singing. There were 70,000 people in a football stadium, and even more outside! Although Mass was in German we all knew what was happening: it is the same Mass, everywhere in the world." Aimee remembers the atmosphere after the Mass: "It was so friendly. Everyone was open to everyone else. Even if you could not speak the same language you knew you were there for the same thing through dancing and laughing together. It was spiritually overwhelming and completely exhausting."
Later in the week there were moments of reflection. For Joe, the time by the shrine in the Cathedral was very precious. "The Cathedral was alive with people, and yet it was full of prayer; a stillness that was a total contrast to the dancing and singing in the square outside." For David the evening we spent time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was very important. This was prepared by Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa, and after praying we saw an exhibition of her life and work, full of her personal memories and testimony. David said this was "a chance for personal prayer, quiet time and reflection that you just do not get in everyday life."
The days in Cologne were full of opportunities: someone counted over two hundred different talks, performances, exhibitions, café spaces and dramas, plus music events and many, many spontaneous moments of singing and dancing. "Every time you turned a corner," said David, "there was something new to see." 
All of us carry the memory of just how friendly an atmosphere it was. Even when trains were crowded there were no cross words, just a lot of acceptance, and a constant wave of joy at being present as young people, together for the same reason.
The last thirty-six hours of World Youth Day centred on the Marienfeld, an old open cast mine that become home to over a million young people. One of the most striking moments was the journey there, when the path opened out, and suddenly we could see four or five different paths: streams of people all converging together on the one field. It was like a metaphor for the whole trip: so many people from across the world all coming together in one place, centred in Jesus Christ.
When Pope Benedict arrived the field took on a new atmosphere. The Pope was clearly very pleased to be there, and also keen to lead us in prayer. Everyone had a little candle, which was lit, and Clare remembers that moment very vividly. 
"The field was packed full of people, and yet it was incredibly prayerful. The Blessed Sacrament gave us a great sense of peace." The Pope said that the power of Jesus can truly change the world, and encouraged us to be joyful at being part of "a family that is as big as the world" - the Catholic church. In the field that night we could really feel that, because we could see it.
One way or another we were able to get to sleep, and a few hours later we were up for the final Mass. Brentwood Diocese had been fortunate to be asked to provide a young person to represent England and Wales by receiving Holy Communion direct from the Pope, and Jeselyn, from Stratford, had been picked out of the hat! She takes up the story: "I was very nervous about going up to sit near the altar, but when I got there everyone was very friendly, getting to know each other, and there was a really good vibe. 
I met people from Africa, Germany and Australia, and we chatted about how our weeks had been. When the moment came to receive Holy Communion from the Pope I was truly in awe, and afterwards I had a wonderful feeling. I will remember it for ever." We could hear what the Pope said via a translation on the radio, and it was a very good message for young people - you can print it from the Vatican website at www.vatican.va
After the Mass we travelled back from the Marienfeld, stopping just to see some of Cliff Richard's performance! The journey took some hours but we got back in time to shower and change before a great evening of celebration. The theme of World Youth Day was "Come, let us adore him" reflecting the fact that the shrine of the Magi is in Cologne Cathedral and focussing on Matthew 2:2. Fr Dominic, our chaplain, spoke about how the Magi went home from the manger by a different route, and that we were also going home changed by such an overwhelming, radiant and exhilarating experience. The challenge now is for us to bring the star - the light of Jesus - back to our schools, homes and families in a new way. Thank you to Arundel and Brighton, our partners in so much of what we did, and to everyone who helped us to travel to World Youth Day. If you have enjoyed what you have read here, why not come to World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia! The last words go to our Dutch hosts, who sent us this email: "WYD really has given our parish and Diocese a boost. Not only for the young people, but for many others. People are still walking around with smiles on their faces: they really enjoyed those days!"
Want to come to the next World Youth Day?
Our thanks go to Clare, 17, from Colchester; Gareth, 19, from Colchester; David, 20, from Brentwood; Joe, 20, from Romford; Jeselyn, 17, from Stratford; Aimee, 17, from Canning Town; Tom, 22, from Southend; and Clare, 17, from Brentwood for their help with compiling this article. Photos courtesy of Megan Rees, Simon Darvill, Gareth Talbot and Fr Chris Brooks. More photos from this and other BCYS events can be found in our Galleries.