World Youth Day
Toronto 2002

Theme : You are the Salt of the Earth, You are the Light of the World

Our pilgrimage began at English Martyrs Church where our group from the Lancaster diocese had a 'small' mass for a safe journey. Little did we know then that the journey to our first destination - Windsor, Ontario - would take nearly 30 hours!

Windsor, Ontario
Arriving late at night in Windsor, hungry and tired, we were assigned to people and families for our "Days in the Diocese". The London diocese had also welcomed pilgrims from Salford, Leeds and Sheffield dioceses.

The hosts had organised events, including a tour around Windsor and a sports day. We also took part in a procession, a living Rosary, a living Stations of the Cross and a Vietnamese mass which was very impressive. On our final night there, a procession took place which involved all those who had stayed in Windsor, ending at the Assumption Church where a candle-lit vigil with singing and Taize style prayer was held. This was the first event that we met pilgrims from other countries.
From Windsor we travelled back towards Toronto, stopping off for an open air mass in a field. All the pilgrims that had stayed in the county were there and it was a greater realisation of just how many people from many different countries had travelled to World Youth Day.

Toronto : Day One
After eating we carried on to Toronto. Here we met up with Bishop Patrick in our (luxury) halls at Seneca College. Our first visit to Exhibition Place, where most of the event was held, was very overwhelming. Thousands of young people from all over the world singing and dancing with flags and banners - it was amazing. Later that day the Archbishop of Toronto, Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, celebrated the opening mass of welcome.
The following morning there was catechesis on the theme "You are the Salt of the Earth" followed by mass.
That afternoon we went on a trip to Niagara Falls with the other Northern Province Groups.

Toronto : Day Two
The next day the theme of catachesis was "You are the Light of the World". That afternoon was the Papal welcoming ceremony. The Pope's presence and words sparked off great excitement in the crowd who clapped and cheered most of the way through.

Toronto : Day Three
On Friday the catechesis was given by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor of Westminster diocese. His theme was "Be Reconciled to God"
That evening we all lined up down University Avenue, a big road, along which a group of actors dramatised the Stations of the Cross. The "Way of the Cross" was my favourite point on the trip. Along the road everyone had one station acted out in front of them and watched the rest on big screens as the actors proceeded down the avenue.

Toronto : Day Four
On Saturday we walked to Downsview Lands for the vigil with the Pope. This included prayer, music, testimonies of young people and a message from the Pope. After the Pope left, a concert started and people began to settle down for their night under the stars.

Toronto : Day Five
We were woken at 6 am by a thunderstorm. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims huddled together wrapped in bin bags to wait for the culmination of the pilgrimage - the Papal Mass. The Pope arrived in a helicopter, then was driven through the crowds in his Pope Mobile. During the mass the rain stopped and everyone was dried by the sunshine.
At the end of the mass the Pope proclaimed the end of this World Youth Day in Toronto and announced that the next World Youth Day will be held in Cologne, Germany, in 2005.

Return home
We then returned to our halls for a good nights sleep indoors and to pack our bags. The following morning the Bishop of Salford, Terence Brain, celebrated a farewell mass at the halls before we began our long journey home.

Katie Ellwood