World Youth Day is about Christ or it’s about nothing at all

By Father Patrick Briscoe, OSV News

World Youth Day (WYD) brings together young people from every corner of the globe to celebrate their Catholic faith. Away from home and buoyed by the witness of their peers, it becomes possible for many to have a transforming encounter with Jesus Christ. But it is not friends, travel or universal embrace of the human spirit that make WYD a lifechanging, transcendent experience. Only Jesus Christ is capable of that.

In fact, ultimately, WYD cannot be about anything other than Christ the Lord. Even noble aims like service or expressions of diversity are insufficient organizational principles. And that is because, as Pope Francis has reminded us many times, the church is not a mere bureaucracy. The church is the People of God, the very body of Christ! And WYD, a visible and beautiful coming together of the church, must have Christ as its center and focus. Otherwise, it’s not worth hosting.

‘He is coming to me’

I’ll never forget the evening of worship that I was privileged to participate in as a newly ordained priest in Krakow. Hosted by the Knights of Columbus at Tauron Arena, over 20,000 young people gathered for catechesis, music and Eucharistic adoration. The evening included a Eucharistic procession, which passed several times around the arena. Leading the procession, I recall the delight and emotion expressed by one pilgrim as we turned and began to head in her direction. Seeing the monstrance draw near, the young girl whispered just loud enough for me to hear, “He is coming to me.”

WYD serves as a catalyst for a more profound relationship with Jesus Christ. As young Catholics gather to worship, learn and pray together, the joy and energy present opens hearts and minds to the reality of Christ’s presence. Engaging in spiritual exercises that might not be a regular part of parish life for many young Catholics, pilgrims are invited to expe- rience the living presence of Jesus in a tangible way. They meet Jesus in a privileged way in the confessional, in the Eucharist, and in catechesis. This encounter fosters a deep sense of intimacy and love for Christ, often igniting a desire to seek him with passion and commitment.

Finding identity in Christ

For many young people, World Youth Day offers an opportunity to nourish their faith. That means, first and foremost, discovering their identity in Christ. In Krakow, Pope Francis pointed to the encounter Jesus had with Zaccheus, urg- ing young people to remember their identity as God’s beloved sons and daughters. The pope told us, “Jesus has taken upon himself our humanity and his heart will never be separated from us.”

The encounter with Jesus Christ, especially through the witness of the pope and other inspiring Catholics, reinforces the call to live a life centered on Christ. Through catechesis sessions, pilgrims receive guidance and inspiration, equipping them to face the challenges of the modern world with unwavering faith. I have seen over and over again how this encounter renews their commitment to be witnesses of Christ’s love in their communities and empowers them to live the Faith confidently.

Answering the call

When the focus is unabashedly on Christ, young people can hear the Lord’s voice more clearly and begin to know the plans of love he has for them. How many young people have discovered their vocation at WYD? How many have given their first “yes” to Christ to pursue his invitation to priesthood, religious life or marriage?

If WYD is misunderstood as a global gathering to demonstrate diversity or human fraternity, it’s not worth the time or the money. But an event that proposes Jesus Christ to hundreds of thousands of young people who are dying from not knowing him? Now, that’s worth everything. - - -

Father Patrick Briscoe, O.P., is a Dominican friar and the editor of Our Sunday Visitor.

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I am getting married and the priest my fiancé and I met with said we need new baptismal certificates. Why can’t we just use the ones our parents got when we were baptized?

(Portland, Maine)

ABaptismal certificates aren’t a one-and-done kind of document.

It is true that when you are baptized, you (or your parents, if you were an infant at the time of your baptism) receive a paper certificate attesting to the fact that your baptism took place on a certain day at a particular place.

However, the official record of your baptism is not one piece of paper in a file, but rather an entry into a baptismal registry book. Your entry in the baptismal register in your parish of baptism then serves as the “master record” of your life as a Catholic. Baptismal registry books register the details of a person’s baptism, but also include room for subsequent major sacramental life events.

For instance, when a Catholic who was baptized as an infant later receives the sacrament of confirmation, this is recorded next to their name in the bap- tismal register of their parish of baptism. If the confirmation happens in a parish other than the one where they were baptized, then the parish of confirmation must take care to contact the parish of baptism to ensure that everything is recorded properly.

Other life events that must be recorded in a person’s original baptismal register include reception of holy orders and religious profession, or a woman’s becoming a consecrated virgin. Marriage in the church is also an important life event to be recorded in a baptismal register — and if a marriage is declared null by a tribunal, this would also be noted in the same place.

When Catholics request a copy of their baptismal certificate, their parish of baptism issues a brand-new hard copy based on the information in the baptismal register. This new copy will have a section on the back which relates all the biographical details recorded over the years in the registry book.

So, if you are requesting a copy of your baptismal certificate as part of your marriage prep, a newly-issued one lets the priest or deacon know about any previous life events, such as a prior marriage or previous reception of holy orders, which might present an issue or impediment with your upcoming wedding.

(Madison, Wis)

When I was an Evangelical I was told there was no such thing as ghosts and that paranormal phenomena were likely demons. What does the church say about this? Doesn’t the Church teach that there are such things as “apparitions?”

(Brandenburg, Kentucky)

AThe word “ghost” can refer to several different concepts. For instance, one use of the word “ghost” is as a synonym for “spirit” — think of how 100 years ago Catholics would refer to the Holy Spirit as the “Holy Ghost.” In that sense, since Catholics believe in spiritual beings, we would certainly believe in ghosts. But when people say there is “no such thing” as ghosts they are generally using a more popular sense of the term to describe the souls of the dead who appear in, or otherwise interact with, the material world and those living in it. The church doesn’t have a specific teaching on these kinds of ghosts per se, although we can draw conclusions from other areas of theology.

We believe that all human beings have an immortal soul that survives the death of the body, and which will eventually be reunited with their resurrected body at the end of time. We also believe that the bonds of love can survive death, and that there can be communion between the living and those who have died – think of how we ask the saints to intercede for us with prayer. Within that communion, we sometimes read of people who report being visited and consoled by holy men and women, like Bl. Solanus Casey, and Bl. PierGiorgio Frassati during times of deep stress or illness.

Further, in accordance with our belief in purgatory as a time of post-mortem purification, we know that not every soul destined for heaven will get there right away. So, the idea of ghosts as souls who remain on earth due to some sort of “unfinished business” can be congruent with a Catholic world view.

Generally, hauntings or other para-

ANo, nobody “needs” a declaration of nullity to avoid hell, or even to participate fully in the life of the church. In fact, it’s never good to start the marriage nullity process because of feeling rushed or pressured by third parties. We are all required to live out the virtue of chastity according to our state in life and particular circumstances. This means, essentially, that a person can only enjoy sexual intimacy with a person to whom they are married. Divorce in and of itself is not necessarily sinful, and being an abandoned spouse is certainly normal ghostly activity are likely connected to one of two things: either demonic activity – which warrants the involvement of the appointed diocesan exorcist – or a soul in purgatory who is somehow “stuck.” This is a situation where sincere prayers for the repose of that soul are in order. Interestingly, the Church of the Sacred Heart of Suffrage, not far from the Vatican, contains a small “Museum of the Souls of Purgatory” which reminds us to pray for those souls, displaying what the little church says are worldly relics of souls in purgatory reaching out to friends and loved ones for prayers.

It is also possible that something that appears to be a supernatural haunting in a given instance is actually something with an entirely natural explanation.

In any event, we should never seek out hauntings or try to contact the dead ourselves through means such as Ouija boards, seances, or psychic mediums. This is a grave sin against the first commandment and participating in such activities runs the risk opening a door to the demonic in our own lives.

On the other hand, apparitions are our term for instances when a person from heaven – most often Our Lady — appears to a certain person or people for a particular purpose or with a specific mes- not a sin. But — as you correctly note — even in cases of divorce, separation or abandonment a once-married couple is still presumed to be married until potentially proven otherwise by a Catholic marriage tribunal. Because of this, a divorced Catholic would need a declaration of nullity if they wanted to marry another person (and it would be sinful to engage in acts proper to marriage with someone to whom they were not married). sage as she did most famously at Lourdes and at Fatima.

But, if you are at peace living a chaste life as a divorced Catholic without seeking a new marriage, it’s perfectly fine to remain as you are.

Although Our Lady in her various apparitions is indeed a spiritual visitor coming from somewhere beyond this earth, it would be odd to call her a “ghost.” This is not only because Marian apparitions are very different from ghostly “hauntings,” but also because Our Lady – unlike our typical idea of a ghost –was assumed body and soul into heaven.

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