Sioux City, Iowa, Sep 26, 2010 / 11:14 am
When a group of young adults from the Diocese of Sioux City heads off to Spain for the 2011 World Youth Day, among the diocesan pilgrims will be nine seminarians. According to seminarian Pat Behm, the experience will allow them to grow spiritually.
“Fundamentally, World Youth Day is not a vacation; it is a pilgrimage,” he stressed. “It is a pilgrimage to another part of the world to meet the person of Jesus Christ and the pope, his vicar here on earth. The opportunities for adoration, Mass, confession and catechesis are great and their value is beyond measure.”
He cited other benefits of the pilgrimage such as an opportunity to be connected to the universal church.
“This obviously means being connected and united with our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, but it also means being united with the Body of Christ throughout the world,” Behm said. “World Youth Day is a tremendous way to be united with and experience in a radically new way, our brothers and sisters throughout the world.”