Young Pakistanis to meet pope in Krakow
A delegation of 11 people will come from Pakistan, including five youth leaders, like Viviana Natalie Rodrigues, 26, and Zeeshan Bais, 25. The first set up her parish’s Facebook page and will post pictures and comments from Poland during the whole week. The second is making a spiritual journey in preparation for the trip.
Lahore (AsiaNews) – A delegation of 11 people from Pakistan will participate in the next World Youth Day in Krakow, scheduled for 25 to 31 July. Among them are five youth leaders, eagerly waiting to make the first trip outside of the country and meet Pope Francis.
AsiaNews has met two of them, Viviana Natalie Rodrigues and Zeeshan Bais. The first, a 26-year-old free-lance journalist, leads a youth group at Karachi’s St Lawrence Church. She has collected information from those who participated in previous World Youth Days, and is now ready to go.
"My heart and mind are all empty,” she said. “I am ready for a new experience of life and excited to meet pilgrims and new friends from all over the world.”
Viviana plans to document the pilgrimage in Poland, and is preparing everything to take pictures.
"This is the opportunity of a life time. I plan to continue applying the catechesis in my life and inspire my local youth group with the new knowledge.”
She has been drawing banners for her parish since she was 13. After graduation she decided to create the Facebook page of her church.
After just over a year, "we reached 1,500 likes. Our friends will be able to experience the special moments of World Youth Day throughout the week."
Zeeshan Bais, 25, comes from the diocese of Hyderabad and is making a spiritual journey in preparation for the trip. He leads the youth group of St John Church in Larkhana, an old city in the southern province of Sindh. He cannot wait to meet the pope.
Both he and Viviana will be waiting for him at one of the stations of the Cross.
“This is a big opportunity for a guy from an impoverished region. I hope to renew the spirit of our youth and help them realise their purpose in Church”, Zeeshan said.
The Pakistani delegation will leave this Sunday (24 July) led by Mgr Sebastian Shah, archbishop of Lahore. It will include Pervez Roderick, secretary of the National Association of Catholic Youth, four priests and five youth leaders.
“One of the boys will be holding our flag at opening ceremony, another will share the experience of being a youth in Pakistan during a session, while a priest from Faisalabad diocese will be one of those concelebrating at the concluding mass”, Roderick said.
In the meantime, Faisalabad diocese plans to launch a year-long pilgrimage of the Cross for youth to mark WYD in each of its 23 parishes. Archbishop Joseph Arshad is behind the initiative.
“Today’s youth must become irresistible bearer of the Cross in order to uphold the Catholic teachings in the world against the current problems of materialism, extreme ideologies, militant tendencies, faithlessness, pornography and negative broadcasts by electronic-print media and social media,” the archbishop said.
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01/08/2017 12:39
27/06/2008
