Local teens prepare for World Youth Day in Australia

BY BART JONES | bart.jones@newsday.com

July 9, 2008

The farthest high school senior Joe Moncada has ever traveled from his home in Elmont is Indiana, when he went to an event at the University of Notre Dame.

But tomorrow morning he will board a plane and head for Australia. Moncada is among 268 young people from Long Island and thousands around the world flocking to World Youth Day to attend Mass with Pope Benedict XVI, and other events.

Moncada and 15 others at St. Boniface Parish in Elmont have been preparing for the trip for more than a year. To raise the $4,000 needed per person, they've done everything from selling teddy bears to raffling off prizes.

"The excitement just keeps building and building," said Moncada, 17, who attends Kellenberg High School in Uniondale. "It's one of the greatest experiences."

The event was established in 1985 by Pope John Paul II and is held every two to three years. Organizers bill it as the largest youth gathering in the world, with 125,000 international visitors expected at the July 15-20 event. That's more tourists than attended the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Organizers also expect 100,000 Australian youths to take part, for a total of 225,000 pilgrims. Beyond that, an estimated 2,000 priests are expected, along with about 700 cardinals and bishops, including Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. The event will require 8,000 volunteers and a total of 3.5 million meals served to the pilgrims.

The highlight, of course, will be the Mass celebrated on the final day by the pope. Before then, participants will take part in educational religious workshops, prayer sessions, and a live Stations of the Cross re-enacting Jesus's final hours.

The United States is sending the largest contingent - an estimated 15,000 young people - with the Diocese of Rockville Centre accounting for one of the largest groups within that, said Tom Smith, coordinator of youth ministry for the diocese.

For those on Long Island who can't attend, the diocese is holding a weekend retreat at Kellenberg.

St. Boniface's is the largest contingent from any Long Island parish partly because the pastor, the Rev. William Gomes, offered to pay $1,000 out of parish funds for anyone wishing to go.

"It was stressed that going there is not a vacation, but this is a pilgrimage," Gomes said.

The travelers change planes in Houston and then fly to Hawaii, where they will spend two days participating in activities before heading to Australia.

Catrina Bowen, 18, said she's been saying the rosary almost every night, while Danielle Douglas, 19, said she becomes overwhelmed when she recalls seeing the pope at a youth event at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers in April.

"To be in his presence gave me chills," she said. "I'm so excited to go."