In total, 15 pilgrims will be going to WYD with the Archdiocese of Ottawa. Seven Ukrainian Catholic youths will be joining eight Roman Catholics who are meeting on a regular basis at the Diocesan Centre every two weeks since May to prepare for the trip to Brazil. They will be leaving Ottawa on July 17th and will return on August 1st.
Unlike for other WYDs, because of the small size of this year's group, the meetings are held in both French and English. The participants are getting to know each other and friendships are quickly forming. They are excited to experience WYD in South America - the continent of our new Pope Francis!
The pilgrims have learned basic Portuguese to get by in Brazil at one of their meetings, taught by Sr. Laura Hughes. Many written words are close to Spanish, but sound much different from Spanish verbally! This is going to be one of the pilgrims' greatest challenges as none of them speak Portuguese and Sr. Laura unfortunately can't join the group to WYD.
Last night's meeting mainly focused on prayer rather than learning Portuguese. Archbishop Prendergast joined the group for dinner and some photos were taken with him and the participants.
Some photos taken last night's meeting:
Unfortunately, Archbishop Prendergast won't be going to Brazil, but will participate in WYD at Home in Kingston, on July 27th from 9 am to 10 pm, at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
Young adults who can't make it to Brazil are
invited to take part in World Youth Day at Home, by registering at www.worldyouthdayathome.com. More information about
the day’s events, volunteer opportunities, youth festival acts, participation
in the multicultural booth, and registration, can be found on the World Youth
Day at Home website.
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