Youth head to finish line in quest to see Pope

by JILL MAHON

Enterprise reporter

The St. Patrick Church youth group is heading to the finish line in their year and a half fundraising efforts in hopes of attending the 2008 World Youth Day (WYD) in Sydney, Australia. Twenty-three teens and six adult chaperones will leave July 10 on their 10,000-mile journey to Sydney for the 12-day trip.

Youth group advisor Laura Dowdell said kids and chaperones alike are more than excited for the pilgrimage to begin. The first few days will be filled with sightseeing, she said, including trips to the Taronga Zoo and Sydney Aquarium. They will then partner with groups from Sandusky and New London for a tour of the South Coast and Southern Highlands. These areas are famous for their fantastic waterfalls, subtropical rainforests and rugged coastlines featuring prime locations such as Botany Bay, Sublime Point, Grand Pacific Drive, Kiama's Blow Hole, Jamberoo Abbey, Fitzroy Falls, Kangaroo Valley and the Penrose Park Marian Shrine.

"The adults who are chaperoning feel blessed to be able to lead our teens on this pilgrimage," Dowdell said. "This will be a great religious and cultural event for our teens. They will see first hand how teens from other countries are, they will experience language differences and will be able to exchange small flags and mementos from other countries."

Sightseeing aside, the core aspect of the trip begins on July 15 with an opening Mass featuring George Cardinal Pell and culminates on July 20 with a pilgrimage walk across the Sydney Harbor Bridge to Randwick Racecourse for an evening vigil with Pope Benedict XVI and a night spent under the stars.

World Youth Day was established by Pope John Paul II in 1986 with the purpose of bringing together international youths to celebrate their faith around a particular Biblical theme and is now one of the largest youth events in the world. To give some idea as to the magnitude of the event, the 2008 venue city is expected to host 225,000 visitors, both national and international, and an estimated 8,000 volunteers, 2,000 clergy and 700 cardinals and bishops.

The cost of the trip runs about $3,400 per person, Dowdell said, and the kids and their families have been hard at work since February, 2007, to ensure funding for everyone who wants to go.

"The entire Wellington community and the Saint Patrick Church parishioners have been so supportive," she said. "The actual funds raised and even anonymous donations have exceeded anything we could have imagined."

The youth group will be holding their final fundraiser for the trip on July 4 organized by parents and avid runners, Tom and Tina Drake. The "Race to Australia," a 5K and 1-mile Fun Run at the Lorain County MetroParks Wellington Reservation on Jones Road begins at 8 a.m. with registration at 7:30. The cost is $25 to enter the 5K and $10 for the Fun Run and all proceeds will go toward the St. Patrick Church youth pilgrimage to World Youth Day. For more information contact Paul or Laura Dowdell by phone at 647-5495 or e-mail at paullauradowdell@bright.net.