Westminster Record
September 2016 | 20p
Schools News
Lourdes Pilgrimage
Home Mission Sunday
Pages 5 - 7
Pages 8 & 9
Page 13
Open to God’s Mercy
World Youth Day is, for most people, a life-changing experience. Many will have found their vocation, whether to the priesthood, religious life or marriage. Others may still be searching, but will have discovered what their next step should be. And there are those whose faith may have been dwindling, but have returned invigorated. In July, 220 young people from the diocese travelled to
Poland to join over a million other young people for World Youth Day in Krakow. Some pigrims, led by Westminster Youth Ministry, had spent the week prior in Łódź preparing with the Chemin Neuf Community at the Paradise in the City festival. Arriving in Krakow, the excitement was palpable. On the streets people sang and cheered, brandishing flags from countries from Australia to
Chile. Images of Pope St John Paul II and St Faustina were emblazoned on flags across the city. There was an immense sense of joy, of friendship and of solidarity amongst those who had come to Krakow to celebrate and learn more about their faith. 500,000 people gathered poncho-clad in Błonia Park on the Tuesday afternoon for the opening Mass with Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the
Archbishop of Krakow, despite the wet weather. Cardinal Dziwisz welcomed pilgrims, saying, ‘We bring to this meeting with Jesus during these days our personal experiences of living the Gospel in our difficult world. We bring our fears and disappointments, but also our hopes and yearning, our desire to live in a more human, more fraternal world.’ Continued on pages 10 & 11
Westminster pilgrims with Cardinal Vincent and Bishop Nicholas