SALT LAKE CITY — Groups from the United States comprise the third largest national delegation of pilgrims going to the 28th World Youth Day, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Utahns will be among them. World Youth Day began in 1986, initiated by Pope John Paul II. The Diocese of Rome celebrates the event every Palm Sunday. Internationally it is celebrated in different cities around the world every two or three years. "WYD’s main objective is to make known to all youth in the world the message of Christ, but it is also true that, through them, the ‘face’ [of] Young Christ is also shown to the world," according to www.rio2013.com, the official website for this year’s event, slated for July 23-28 in Rio de Janeiro. Among those who will go to Brazil next month are parishioners from Saint Catherine of Siena/Newman Center and Saint Marguerite in Tooele. Michelle Kofford, one of two adult chaperones for the group of seven from St. Marguerite Parish, attended the 2008 WYD in Sydney, Australia. "When I went, I loved the experience," she said, adding that she was unable to raise the funds for the next WYD in Spain, but is looking forward to Rio de Janeiro. The overnight vigil with the Mass and rosary is "the coolest part," she said, because the thousands who attend the event all gather in one place, and are shown by the candles they hold. "Up until that point you don’t really realize how many people are there. It’s amazing what it does to you when you step into a place where there are 400,000 people that believe the same thing you do, whether they speak English or they speak Korean or they speak Russian or Spanish or whatever, it’s all the same belief, and you really get that feeling that this church is universal." Kofford has "always been tied to the church and the diocese in some respect, and I don’t know how I would untie myself now," she said; she worked with the diocesan Youth and Young Adult Ministry and was president of the Southern Utah University Newman Club for a year before she graduated with a degree in elementary education. She hopes the five young women she will accompany will gain "that love for their Church and for their religion and their faith and get to experience that on a large scale, which is what World Youth Day is," she said. Attending WYD costs thousands of dollars, and the St. Marguerite group has spent several years raising funds by selling produce from gardens they planted and selling cakes for Valentine’s Day and other such events. "I don’t think I could ask for more committed girls," Kofford said. "The fundraising is huge. Without fundraising, there is no way we would ever be able to attend these. God bless our parish because we’re not a huge parish and we’re constantly asking for donations and they are constantly willing to give to us, to see us go on something like this." Likewise, the St. Catherine of Siena/Newman Center group also raised funds for their journey. "The students actually came to me and wanted to go; they asked me if we could make it happen and so we made a plan, we fund-raised all the money, and we’re going," said Jon Dalton, the lay campus minister who will join the group of 18. "My biggest hope is that it will be an experience participating in the universal Church. I think that’s something that we, as a campus ministry within a mission diocese, don’t get to see: the broader faith base of Catholic youth in the country and the world, and this is an opportunity to see the life of the church that’s present in our generation." Charissa Isaacs, a St. Catherine of Siena parishioner who joined the Newman Center when she was a U of U student and has continued to participate in the activities even now that she is an elementary school teacher, said the Holy Spirit has guided her to WYD this year. "I’m looking forward to the opportunity to be open about everything and just absorb everything and make a difference in everybody’s lives," said Isaacs, whose family comes from Guyana in South America. "I’m not anticipating; I’m just going to be there participating." She sees the experience as being a "once in a lifetime" event, and "I hope that this experience opens me up to what I could do in my life," she said. "My life is to serve, and I get that – that’s what I do on a daily basis, but I want it to see beyond what I can do right now. I hope it opens me up to see things that are not obvious to me in my day-to-day life. I want to be able to look and see the possibilities of what I could be doing and what I should be doing rather than what I just see right now." Both Isaacs and Matthew Driscoll, a U of U sophomore who also will go to Rio de Janeiro, are looking forward to seeing Pope Francis, as is Kofford, they all said. "I’m really excited about the service work and I’m also really excited about seeing the new pope," Dalton said. "He’s really humble and very welcoming." WYD is not just a way to see new places and learn about new cultures, Dalton said; he also is going because "I want to develop a deeper connection with God and I want to learn about Catholicism in other cultures."
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