An excerpt of the book: Northern Lights: An Anthology of Contemporary Christian Spiritual Writing by Canadians

By Father Thomas Rosica, C.S.B.

In July 2002, Toronto hosted the 17th International World Youth Day. Several hundred thousand young people from 172 nations descended upon the city—and with them came the elderly and infirm Pope John Paul II. To kick off the event on July 23, the pope defied all odds and stunned all critics when he painstakingly walked down the steps of that Alitalia plane at Pearson International Airport instead of using the special lift prepared for him.

To the government officials gathered at the airport and to and the people of Canada, the pope spoke these words: “Canadians are heirs to an extraordinarily rich humanism, enriched even more by the blend of many different cultural elements… In a world of great social and ethical strains, and confusion about the very purpose of life, Canadians have an incomparable treasure to contribute – on condition that they preserve what is deep, and good, and valid in their own heritage.”

Toronto may have lost the Olympic bid two years earlier, but it struck gold with World Youth Day, which I was privileged to serve as director. The sheer numbers of people taking part in the four days of events astounded us. More than 350,000 people packed Exhibition Place on Thursday afternoon, July 25, for the opening ceremony with Pope John Paul II.

Then, the following evening, Toronto’s majestic University Avenue was transformed into the Via Dolorosa of Jerusalem as more than half a million people took part in the ancient Stations of the Cross. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio Canada told us that the worldwide television audience that night was more than a billion people in 160 countries.

The deeply moving Saturday evening candlelight vigil at Downsview Park drew together more than 600,000 people, and the concluding Papal mass on Sunday, with its atmospheric theatrics, gathered 850,000 people at a former military base. Even the most cynical among us could not help but be impressed, even moved by the streams of young people who expressed their joy at being Christians in a complex and war-torn world.

On the tarmac that Saturday evening of the vigil, John Paul II spoke to the young people. “The new millennium opened with two contrasting scenarios,” he declared. “One, the sight of multitudes of pilgrims coming to Rome during the Great Jubilee to pass through the Holy Door which is Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer; and the other, the terrible terrorist attack on New York, an image that is a sort of icon of a world in which hostility and hatred seem to prevail. The question that arises is dramatic: On what foundations must we build the new historical era that is emerging from the great transformations of the 20th century? Is it enough to rely on the technological revolution now taking place, which seems to respond only to criteria of productivity and efficiency, without reference to the individual’s spiritual dimension or to any universally shared ethical values? Is it right to be content with provisional answers to the ultimate questions, and to abandon life to the impulses of instinct, to short-lived sensations or passing fads?”

The provocative images the Pope evoked that night remain engraved on people’s memories. Terrorism, along with ethnic and religious divisions, generates violence that seems to have no end. Economic insecurity raises collective anxieties. And against that backdrop, we heard our challenge – to recover the depth, beauty, and vastness of the church’s mission.

Pedagogy with young people

Pope John Paul II had a particular fascination for and effective ministry among young people. The two largest recorded crowds in history have been for World Youth Day masses. In the midst of those great gatherings and the hundreds of meetings with young people, the pontiff left us pedagogy, a way of meeting and accompanying the young along the journey.  One of the hallmarks of his interaction with young people was John Paul II’s calling them “his young friends.”  And he meant it. As we observed that summer in Toronto, he enjoyed the company of youth.

Challenge was one of John Paul II’s favorite terms. During World Youth Day, he challenged young people to be “brave,” “strong,” to “have courage.”  He saw in the valor of so many of his own contemporaries during World War II the capacity of young people for this type of bravery, courage, and heroism.

His parting words from the Downsview Park stage still resound in my ears: “You are young, and the pope is old; 82 or 83 years of life is not the same as 22 or 23. But the pope still fully identifies with your hopes and aspirations. Although I have lived through much darkness, under harsh totalitarian regimes, I have seen enough evidence to be unshakably convinced that no difficulty, no fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young. You are our hope, the young are our hope.  Do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it! We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.”

The experiences of World Youth Days in recent years have brought much new life to each of the countries where the great events have taken place.  More than five years after the great event of Toronto 2002, we need to take stock of the gifts we received, asking how the vision and hope of John Paul II have impacted our own efforts in pastoral ministry with young people.

What we learned

What have the joy, exuberance, and creativity surrounding the 2002 World Youth Day taught us, and how have they transformed youth and young adult ministry in the Canadian church? Have we followed through with the commitments we made then?  How have we initiated a “preferential option” for young people in the church today?  How can we give the flavour of the gospel and the light of Christ to the world today?

One of the important goals of World Youth Day is to instill hope and vibrancy in the church—to differ with the cynicism, despair, and meaninglessness so prevalent in the world today.  John Paul II knew well that our world today offers fragmentation, loneliness, alienation, and rampant globalization that exploits the poor.

In recent years we have witnessed a phenomenon that our current Pope Benedict once called “a dictatorship of relativism,”—the deconstruction of all objectivity in our perceptions of reality. We have witnessed the crisis of marriage and family life. We see the loss of respect for human life and human dignity. We see the serious crisis of fatherhood in our contemporary world.

The preparation for World Youth Day 2002 offered the Church in Canada some unique and profound moments to deepen our Christian devotion.  Many Canadians are unlikely to forget the powerful images of the World Youth Day Cross on its historic, 43,000 kilometre pilgrimage through more than 350 cities, towns and villages – from sea to sea to sea to sea.

The presentation of the Stations of the Cross on Friday evening, July 26, 2002, was a provocative, profound witness of the Christian story in the heart of a modern city.  How have we continued this tradition in our parish communities and youth activities?  Do we acknowledge the need for solid, biblically, rooted Christian piety and devotion in the lives of young people today?

During his pontificate, Pope John Paul II proclaimed 482 saints.  Young adults need heroes and heroines today, and the Pope gave us outstanding models of holiness and humanity at each World Youth Day, especially ours in Canada.  The saints and blessed ones remind us that on the path to heaven, we are never finished; we are only and always on the way.  When we think of holiness in these terms – as a kind of direction, rather than a destination – we have a sense that what unites us with the saints, our fellow travelers, is much deeper than all that sets us apart.

John Paul II summed up the whole mission as: “Meet Christ, become friends with him, announce to others the miracle of his love!”.  His strategy and pedagogy with young people was endless patience; loving closeness and a call to be saints.

The theme of Canada’s 2002 World Youth Day was “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world” taken from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 5.  This theme served as a leitmotiv during the build-up to World Youth Day 2002, for the event itself, and in the follow-up in local churches throughout the world. It also inspired the establishement Canada’s first national Catholic television network, Salt and Light Television, which I was asked to direct in 2003.

During World Youth Days, bishops and cardinals serve as teachers and catechists. Thousands of young people gather around them to hear reflections based on the Word of God, and in particular on the theme of the event. This novel invention has taken on a life of its own, becoming an intrinsic part of the celebrations. Not only have the teaching sessions become a unique encounter between generations, but also an opportunity to proclaim and preach the Word of God across cultures, offering to young people concrete possibilities for living a biblically rooted life.

In Toronto, we saw another unique gift of John Paul II: fatherhood. In “Radiation of Fatherhood,” the 1964 drama he wrote when he was still Polish Bishop Karol Wojtyla, he suggested that becoming a father meant being “conquered by love,” which liberates us from the false freedom of self-absorption. For millions of young people worldwide, the pope’s spiritual fatherhood was a reflection of the fatherhood of God. I’m convinced that the young people responded to him so positively because in many cases he was the father they never had and the grandfather they never knew.

During the celebrations of 2002, John Paul II offered us powerful opportunities to become bearers of hope, agents of community, neighbors to those around us, and instruments of a moral globalization that must accompany all other globalization efforts. He challenged us to give a reason for the hope we have to the people we meet day by day – to know our faith, to be ready to explain it and, if necessary, defend it.

Boldness and solidarity

As we think further about his call to the transformation of Canadian culture and to deeply Christian roots, I offer two words that I see as key: boldness and solidarity. They come out of the strategy of the early Church as seen in Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.  In Acts chapter 4, Peter and John were arrested and brought before the officials. They were interrogated, threatened, and ordered to speak no longer in the name of Jesus the Lord. Once they were released, their community uttered a remarkable prayer. It wasn’t about the actual harm inflicted on the believers but about the fact that the word of God was chained, threatened, and suffocated.

The community prayed for guidance. It wanted to understand the events in the light of faith, to discover the meaning of what had happened. When they had prayed, we read, the place in which they were gathered was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word with boldness.

Then in chapter 18 we see the apostle Paul facing hostility in Corinth. The Lord responds in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching the people the word of God.  What a wonderful encouragement this is – that we not despair. We are not alone. God has many friends with whom we can develop prayerful networks of solidarity and friendship.

World Youth Day in Canada woke us up, infused us with joy, and reminded us of our gifts. It reminded us of the qualities of hospitality, tolerance, and peacemaking that have characterized this nation. It called us back to our deeply Christian origins and heritage. As we bask in the radiant memories of the summer of 2002, we can admit now that it was no panacea or quick fix to the problems facing us today. It was not a show, a rave party, a protest, or photo opportunity.  It was an invitation. Against a global background of terror and fear, economic collapse in many countries, and ecclesial scandals, World Youth Day 2002 presented a bold, alternative vision of compelling beauty, hope, and joy.  They give us courage and solidarity to help future generations.

Father Thomas Rosica was National Director of World Youth Day 2002 and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and Television Network.