Here is a summary of the discussion that took place at that gathering held at the Kraków Media Centre at 5:00pm local time (11:00am EDT).
Summary of the WYD Press Conference
Held Tuesday evening, 26 July 2016
8:00pm (EDT+6)
Back to the roots of WYD
WYD was not invented by Pope John Paul II but by Father Karol Wojtyla, who lived in Krakoów. Coming back to Kraków is like getting back to the source, said Reverend Father Thomas Rosica, C.S.B. - CEO of Canada's Catholic Salt & Light TV Network. He was speaking at the WYD Press Conference held last evening at the Krakow Media Centre on the origins of the WYD. Father Rosica is at Kraków with his Canadian Youth delegation and the Salt and Light Television crew. This television network was one of the first fruits after the WYD in Toronto. We are really happy to be here in Kraków. This is coming back home, where these ideas were born, he said.
Father Rosica concluded by saying that George Bush invaded Iraq a few years ago looking for weapons of Mass destruction. The WYD on the other hand is a weapon of mass construction. After WYD Toronto, Father Thomas has celebrated almost 30 nuptials of volunteer staff and also attended a few priestly ordinations of ex-volunteers. WYD not only serves millions of youth but it also transforms many. WYD may not end evil in the world, but it definitely shows us an alternative, he said.
Another panelist at the Press Conference was Professor Yago de la Cierva who has a unique distinction of having participated in every WYD since its inception in Rome in 1986. He was the CEO of WYD Madrid 2011. He said that usually nearly two-thirds of the participants are from the host country. Madrid too reaped a rich harvest in many ways. For example, a religious order which had received no vocations for a number of years, had 4 young people knocking on their door the very same day when WYD Madrid came to a close. The number of Sunday worshippers have also increased as well as the number of parents asking for catholic education for their children.
The second legacy of WYD Madrid was the renewal of the Spanish Catholic Church. Bishops had a chance to spend time with their youth; they went everywhere together. This brought about a change in the Spanish Bishops. They understood their youth and their aspirations. Both youth and the bishops got to know each other, said Professor de la Cierva.
He added that the WYD not only inspired young people but also left a legacy for Spanish society in general. Madrid managed WYD in a professional way.
A special couple present at the conference were Gustavo and Fabiola Huguenin who got married after WYD Brazil 2013. They are the Social Media coordinators for Kraków 2016. Kraków is like our honeymoon, said Fabiola, We watched WYD Sydney on television and WYD Madrid on Social Media. When I learnt that WYD was happening in Rio in my own country, I wanted to help somehow. She met Gustavo at WYD Rio, their relationship blossomed and they were finally married. JPII helped us a lot in our human formation, they said. They claim that they received a lot from his teaching and from the church. We wanted to give back for JPII and the Church the first months of our marriage, family life. That is why they are here. WYD's social media profile has grown in this edition, Gustavo added. This year, the WYD Facebook page is being offered in 32 languages, Twitter in 14. There are approximately 1.6 million followers on the FB page. Today, there was a jump in the number of Twitter followers after Pope Francis tweeted #Krakow2016.
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