World Youth Day Cross Now on Historic Tour of U.S.

WASHINGTON—To mark the twenty-fifth anniversary ofthe first and only World Youth Day (WYD) in the United States (in Denver,Colorado, in August 1993), the official World Youth Day Cross and Marian Iconwill make a five-city tour across the United States in August 2018.

From August 19 to 27, the WYD symbols are making stopsin Chicago (Aug 19-21), Miami (Aug 21-23), Houston (Aug 23-24), Washington DC(Aug 24-25), and Los Angeles (Aug 26-27).

Each of the five locations will feature special eventsand liturgical celebrations in commemoration of this historic journey. Afterleaving the United States, the WYD Cross and Marian Icon will continue ontoPanamá, where it will tour that country in advance of the next internationalWYD with Pope Francis, which is being held there in January 2019.

At least ten U.S. bishops will be part of thepilgrimage including Abp. José H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles; Abp.William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore; and Abp. Thomas G. Wenski, Archbishopof Miami; Bp. Frank J. Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport; Bp. Barry C. Knestout,Bishop of Richmond; Bp. Roy E. Campbell and Bp. Mario E. Dorsonville-Rodríguez,Auxiliary Bishops of Washington; Bp. George Rassas, Auxiliary Bishop ofChicago; Bp. George A. Sheltz, Auxiliary Bishop of Galveston-Houston; and Bp.Marc Trudeau, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles. Abp. José Domingo UlloaMendieta, O.S.A., Archbishop of Panamá and host of WYD 2019, will also bepresent at the events in Miami and Washington DC.

The visit of the WYD symbols takes place 25 yearssince their last organized tour within the USA, when they preceded the August1993 WYD celebration with St. John Paul II. Over 500,000 young people traveledto Denver for that landmark event. Since then, the U.S. has activelyparticipated in the global WYD celebrations, held every 2 or 3 years indifferent cities around the world.

"We want women and men of all ages to come out andencounter these important symbols of faith when they are here in our country,"said Bp. Caggiano, who also serves as the USCCB's chief liaison for WYD. "Inaddition to those preparing to go to Panamá, we hope that young people andyoung adults who are unable to travel to World Youth Day next year will be partof these local celebrations. We also hope that veterans of past World YouthDays, including those who went to Denver in 1993, will have a chance to join usalong the way."

Details about the specific events in each city can befound at www.wydusa.org.

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Keywords: World Youth Day, USCCB, U.S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops, U.S. Bishops, Bishop Caggiano, Panama, Pope Francis

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Judy Keane