Taking the faith home with us

Archbishop Timothy Dolan welcomes pilgrims at the beginning of cathechesis at the Love and Life Center.

Despite arriving home very late the night before, on Friday morning we were up and out the door by 9 a.m. to make our way to the Life and Love Center in Madrid for the morning’s catechesis. We had heard it would be delivered by Archbishop Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York and former primate of our neighboring Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

It was an easy bus ride in to Madrid, where we caught the metro. As usual, it was packed with the many pilgrims from around the world, each group going to their own destination.

At the Love and Life Center, we arrived just as Archbishop Dolan was making his way through the crowd at the front entrance, pumping hands and smiling as he was greeted enthusiastically by young Catholics.

Catechesis at the Palacio De Deportes

The Love and Life Centre in Madrid, a location for English-speaking pilgrims of World Youth Day 2011, is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and the Sisters of Life.

In the morning on August 17, the pilgrims headed out for catechesis at the Palacio De Deportes, where the Knights of Columbus and the Sisters of Life are hosting the Love and Life Centre.

The vast center can hold 12,000 people — a number that was reached long before the catechesis with Cardinal George Pell began. The cardinal and current archbishop of Sydney, Australia, spoke on the topic of faith and reason.

“We have two alternatives: that the universe was created by chance, or that the universe was created through supreme intelligence,” he said.

Music and speakers featured at the English-speaking WYD site

As World Youth Day draws closer, more information is being released on the many events that will be happening as a part of the six-day event, as well as hosted by other organizations.

The “Love and Life Centre: A Home for English-speaking Pilgrims” today released its schedule of events to be held at the center during the days of WYD. The schedule includes a variety of programs and speakers designed to appeal to pilgrims of all ages and can be accessed at wydenglishsite.org

Highlights include newly appointed archbishop of Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, Hollywood actors Matt Marsden and Clarence Gilyard, FOCUS president Curtis Martin, and such musical performers as Alexander Acha, Dana Scallon, Scythian, and LAngelus.

More than 60 US bishops expected to join World Youth Day pilgrims

Bishop W. Francis Malooly walks with teens as they carry the replica of the World Youth Day cross from St. Paul Church to St. Elizabeth Church during the Catholic youth cross pilgrimage in Wilmington, Del., April 16. Youths around the globe are preparing for the international World Youth Day in August. It will take place in Madrid, Spain, with Pope Benedict XVI. (CNS photo/Don Blake, The Dialog)