Members of Sioux City Diocese set to embark on Australian WYD pilgrimage

By KARA KOCZUR, Globe staff reporter
July 10, 2008

After almost nine months of planning, seven members of the Diocese of Sioux City are heading "Down Under" July 12 for World Youth Day, held July 15-20 in Sydney, Australia.

"It's been a long time coming," said Jenny Mohlmann, 25, of St. Joseph Parish in Sioux City. "We got started in November planning for this and it's just hard to believe it's already here."

Besides Mohlmann, Maria Kasparbauer, Brittany Poss, Erin and Allison Youngers, Mark Thomason and Father Brad Pelzel are also attending.

World Youth Day was started by Pope John Paul II in 1986. The day is recognized yearly, though a large international gathering is only held every two to three years. The last WYD gathering was held in 2005 in Cologne, Germany. The theme for Sydney is "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8).

The pilgrims from the diocese will first meet up with 150 others from across the country in Los Angeles on July 12. They all bought into a WYD pilgrimage package through the Franciscan University of Steubenville Journeys office and will travel together, including a post-WYD mission trip to New Zealand.

Each person was required to pay $3,640, plus their airline ticket to L.A. Although most meals will be provided, a few will have to be paid for on their own. The participants did their own fundraising, but thanks to donations from people throughout the diocese, they were able to purchase t-shirts and some extra things that happen at WYD, said Jessica La Fleur Malm, diocesan director of youth and young adults.

After enduring a flight that has them skipping a whole day as they cross the international date line, they will join up to 225,000 registered pilgrims from around the world. Together they will experience six days of activities, including catechetical sessions, Mass, opportunities for confession and adoration, and cultural events.

The pilgrims will experience long days, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. They will stay at a campsite 20 minutes outside of Sydney and will bus to and from the city.

"The whole week crescendos with a pilgrimage across Sydney, the all-night vigil and Mass with the Holy Father," said Mark Thomason, diocesan director of catechesis, evangelization and RCIA.

The all-night vigil is what Maria Kasparbauer is most anticipating.

"We sleep under the stars before the closing Mass," said Kasparbauer, 22, from Sacred Heart in Manilla. "I think it will be an incredible experience. The pope is going to be there-that's pretty awesome in itself."

While in America "youth" may imply those in their teenage years, much of the world views it differently.

"Youth primarily in Europe are really those in their 20s and 30s," said La Fleur, who helped organize, but is not attending the pilgrimage. "So what we consider to be young adults in the United States is what youth is considered on an international level."

Although people from the diocese have gone to WYD in the past, La Fleur said this is the first time in recent years that a group has been organized by the diocese. She hopes the interest will grow for future WYDs because it's an important experience that can deepen faith, she said.

"It's important because there's something about experiencing the universal church that really can impact someone's faith, and going on a pilgrimage does so even more," La Fleur said. "You prepare yourself for the trip, you make sacrifices so that you can experience this awesome retreat experience, and when you get there you meet other Catholics from across the world. You're all worshiping together, you're praising together and you hear the pope speak directly to you."

Hearing the pope speak to her was one of the reasons Mohlmann, who is a teacher at Holy Cross School in Sioux City, decided to attend WYD in Australia. In 2002 she went to WYD in Toronto with the Diocese of Sioux Falls and said the message John Paul II had for youth touched her.

"I'm hoping to get the same thing from this WYD," she said. "I'm hoping to maybe hear a message I can take back to my students, but also something that will impact my life and just keep me going on my faith journey and something to keep [my faith] going."

Kasparbauer, who looks at the pilgrimage as an opportunity for a "phenomenal experience," also said one of the reasons she decided to attend was to strengthen her faith.

Following WYD, the group will spend one to two days in Sydney before heading off to New Zealand. There they will do various mission projects within a diocese and will stay at host homes.

One of the reasons they extended their trip is the fact that after traveling half-way around the world it would be a missed opportunity not to stay longer, Thomason said. It also takes awhile to be a pilgrim, he added.

Thomason should know. He has been to the last six international WYDs. It is important for pilgrims to remember it's not a vacation, he said. Pilgrims must be open to the "sacrament of now" and it requires abandoning themselves to Divine Providence, he added.

"The pilgrimage mentality - I don't think you can really experience it until you go for awhile," he said. "Part of being a pilgrim is stretching yourself and growing."

Thomason is looking forward to the journey to WYD, as well as securing the Diocese of Sioux City's place in the world, he said.

"I think we are called to be a viable leader in this part of the country," he added. "I think it's much overdue that Sioux City continues its long tradition of leadership."

The pilgrims will be using the internet to update people back in the diocese of their journey. On the homepage of the diocesan Web site there will be a link to a blog where the pilgrims will post comments about events and also include their reflections on what they're hearing and seeing, La Fleur said. The blog will also include pictures.

The blog will have a basic itinerary, an outline of WYD and Pope Benedict XVI's invitation to WYD 2008. It will even have a link to the WYD site, which will have the texts of the pope's homilies and reflections, La Fleur said.

Thomason said they will also be digitally recording their comments throughout their stay and e-mailing them back so people throughout the diocese can listen to updates on Catholic Radio KFHC 88.1.

The group will return on July 28. Mohlmann said she is looking forward to the homecoming so that she can share her experience with her parish and school.

"My parish has been really supportive," she said, "and I'm looking forward to coming back and sharing everything that I've learned and everything that's touched me there."