The correlation is being made by the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. There were also a number of interviews done with young religious who have said that they first began to think about the religious life at WYD.
A number of them have said that it was the personality of Bl. John Paul himself and his invitation to the young to respond to Christ. Others have said that having seen him, even when he was sick and aging, was an inspiration to them. And still others have said that it was at WYD that they met sisters, lay brothers and religious brothers and were able to talk with them close up. At every WYD there is a very visible vocation event with music, literature, one-on-one dialogue with members of different communities, prayer time, and dsiplays. Also the three big communities that are responsible for coordinating with the host diocese are always very present: Franciscan, Dominican and Salesian. These communities are very involved in the preparation of the whole thing, because they do a great deal of youth ministry as well as teaching. The Salesians (male and female) and the Dominican sisters, are present in many schools and colleges.
The Franciscans also have an edge at WYD, because most of the coverage is done by the Franciscan Friars of the Eternal Word and transmitted via EWTN around the globe. In addition, the General Ministers make it a point to send hundreds of friars and cloistered nuns to WYD. It’s one of those few time when the nuns are allowed to leave the enclosure and kids actually get to meet them. Our Poor Clares in the USA have met many girls at these events. They stay in touch after the event. One thing leads to another. The friars make it a point to send a sampling of friars from the 112 obediences of men and a strong delegation of Franciscan Youth.
The Salesians, of course, are very huge around the world. Their presence is very strong. They usually go with many of their oratories. The Dominicans make themselves very present through lectures, catechesis, liturgy and other activities that they lead during those days. Remember, the Holy Father is there for part of the week, not the entire week. Also, WYD takes almost a year of preparation. Many of these kids are in contact with the leadership teams in their dioceses through the year.
In the diocese where I work, the preparation to send about 500 young people took a year. The Brothers of Mary, Sisters of the Pierced Hearts, Carmelite Sisters, Franciscan Brothers of Life, Claretian Sisters, Discalced Carmelite Friars, and many diocesan priests and deacons have been very involved with the young people all year, raising funds, doing a lot of educating on the whole idea of pilgrimage, and whatever else it took to get them to Madrid. Those provided many opportunities for the young people to be close to religious that they did not know existed.
It’s not just being at the event, but its what comes before and what follows that has helped many young people. When you interview young religious, you get this information. This year there is going to be a congress of some kind for young women religious under 35, I believe that’s the cut-off age. There are over 1,000 sisters and nuns signed up to participate. This even will be open to young women attending WYD.
The Sacred Congregatiion has been keeping tabs of this progress. As the Secretary says, he did not believe it was going to have a big impact and he’s pleasantly surprised that it has had such an impact.
As I said, everyone is more suprised that among men, the impact has favored the lay brothers and the religious brothers even more than the seminaries. Those congregations are growing faster than some diocesan seminaries. Let me tell you, there are some dioceses that are picking up speed. The regional seminary in Florida is full. Mt. St. Mary’s in Maryland is full. Lincoln is full. St. Joseph in NY is full. These are all regional schools. They pick up students from several dioceses. But they are full. That’s what matters.
The Franciscans of the Renewal say that they pick up at least five guys after every WYD. They just go and put on a concert. However, after the concert, they spend days talking with the kids about the poor whom they serve and about how they live without internet, telephones, TV, radios, cars, and how they spend their days just walking the streets of major cities to be one with the poor. For many young men to see a friar who is very talented, intelligent, well educated, many are priests, just walk away from that to pray and spend their days on the streets, it’s inspiring.
It is a great opportunity for kids to see the rich diversity in religious traditions that have sustained the Church for over 1,000 years. Common’ what are the chances of meeting a cloistered nun. You get to see cloistered Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, Benedictines and others at these events. The autorities lift the enclosure for them to attend. At WYD in Australia, the Poor Clares put on a half-hour program from WYD that was televised around the globe. This gave the entire Poor Clare order a lot of press among youth. **If you look at the Poor Clare nuns, they are very young. Their median age is about 38 and there are 20,000 of them. These women belong to the JP II generation.**Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
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