Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The pilgrimage of the World Youth Day (WYD) Cross took place from Saturday, May 30, to Tuesday, June 2 in Abruzzo, in the areas struck by the earthquake on April 6. 17 youth “missionaries of the cross,” representatives from the Pontifical Council for the Laity (PCL), the Diocese of Rome, the Emmanuel School of Mission, the International Youth Center of San Lorenzo in Rome, and the Agora of Youth of the CEI, led by Fr. Eric Jacquinet, head of the Youth Section of the PCL, carried the WYD symbol through the various earthquake sites.
As a statement from the Pontifical Council for the Laity – Youth Section mentions, the pilgrimage began on May 30, from the San Lorenzo Center in Rome, where the Cross is normally on display (having been presented as a gift from John Paul II 25 years ago). The first place visited by the Cross was the Student Residence in L'Aquila. The next day, the Cross was taken on display in the back of a pick-up truck to the training school of the Guardia di Finanza, where Archbishop Giuseppe Molinari of L'Aquila held a Mass in which he confirmed nearly 150 young people. On June 1, the Cross was present among the local residents living in tents in the area, where it was received amidst celebrations and prayer.
On June 2, the Cross traveled to the Piazza Duomo, in the historic center of the Abruzzo town, which is now declared a “danger zone” as a result of the severe earthquake damage. Here, the youth missionaries were joined by the local firemen in praying for the “material and moral reconstruction of the city.” The Cross once again mounted the pick-up truck and traveled to the Shrine of Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, the “Isola del Gran Sasso,” which sponsored the gathering of youth from Abruzzo and Molise for the conclusion of the three-year youth ministry program in Italy. After its veneration in the Mass, the Cross returned to Rome on the evening of June 2.
“It was an inspiring experience both for those of us who accompanied the Cross, as well as for those who received it,” said Fr. Eric Jacquinet, head of the Youth Section of the Pontifical Council of the Laity. “We witnessed the joy on the faces of so many people who were able to embrace this Cross, the enthusiasm of Bishop Molinari in seeing the Cross enter on the shoulders of the youth to be Confirmed, the moving experience of the parish priest who was able to finally touch the Cross that he had always only seen from a distance...the act of confidence expressed by a woman who had lost her daughter and grandchildren in the earthquake.” “The Cross has brought courage and hope to the future, to face reconstruction without fear,” says Fr. Dino Ingrao, Head of Youth Ministry in the Diocese of L'Aquila. “It has brought the courage to ask the Lord for the strength to rebuild our community in its morale.” During the pilgrimage, there were 3,500 people who were able to venerate the Cross. Each one was presented with a small wooden cross, modeled after the original. On May 31, in his address after the Regina Caeli, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his union in prayer with the youth of Abruzzo, asking that “Christ dead and risen to pour put his Spirit of consolation and hope upon them.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 3/6/2009)
