By Anna Weaver | Hawaii Catholic Herald
With World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia, just five months away, the Diocese of Honolulu is stepping up its preparations for the big event.
The diocese has created its own equivalent of the World Youth Day cross with a 5x4-foot banner that has been traveling to parishes and military bases around Hawaii. At each stop youth and young adult members write their parish’s name on the sign.
The banner, which is now on Kauai, will be taken to World Youth Day with the Diocese of Honolulu group as a way of “taking the aloha spirit with them,” said Paulette Gomes, in the Office of Diocesan Services.
There are 105 in the diocesan group. Several local parishes are sending pilgrims on their own. Bishop Larry Silva is also going.
“We just thought that would be a really beautiful way to show unity even though we are separated by miles,” she said.
For those who can’t make it Down Under, the diocese is hosting a weekend of events, July 18-20, at St. Stephen Diocesan Center that will coincide with the main World Youth Day events in Sydney.
Gomes and Franciscan Sister Marlene Miller, the director of religious ministries for Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Chapel, are planning a string of events including an outdoor Stations of the Cross, special speakers, rosary recitations, fellowship, Mass, and a live videoconference with World Youth Day attendees in Sydney. Catholic singer Vince Ambrosetti is also tentatively scheduled to perform.
Families are being encouraged to attend. Gomes said that there has been a great response from Kaneohe Marine Corps Base families so far.
The Diocese of Honolulu will also be hosting 23 people from the Diocese of Fort Worth on July 11 as they make a stop on their way to Australia. Another group from New York may also stop here as well. A Mass, prayer services and picnic at Hanauma Bay are being planned for the day and all young adults are invited to participate.
Gomes is also looking for any young adults that might be able to help plan and run local World Youth Day events, especially those with technology skills. She can be contacted at pgomes@rcchawaii.org.