MANILA, August 6, 2011—Hundreds of young people from across the archipelago are gathered today at the St. Pedro Poveda College in Quezon City for Episcopal Commission on Youth’s (ECY) two-day World Youth Day (WYD) preparatory session.
According to ECY executive secretary Fr. Conegundo Garganta, at least 427 WYD pilgrims under the ECY-Philippines delegation are required to attend the preparatory session before flying to Spain to participate in the Days in the Diocese (DID) at Coria Caceres from August 11 to 15 and for the WYD proper in Madrid from August 16 to 21.
The ECY-Philippines delegation, composed of youth representatives of Catholic schools and organizations in the parochial and diocesan levels nationwide, is considered as the official delegation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines for the 26th WYD in Spain.
“This is a significant part of their preparation for actual participation in the DID and WYD. What they will get from here will help prepare them spiritually and practically in their actual participation in the activities in Spain,” Garganta said.
Garganta said the delegates of the ECY-Philippines will not only be prepared spiritually, they will also be oriented with the language, food and traditions in Spain.
“When we go to Spain after this session, the place won’t be strange to us in terms of language, food, and how time is observed. The delegates will be taught how to present themselves to other delegates and pilgrims,” he added.
Garganta said the readiness of the ECY-Philippines delegates can only be assessed after the preparatory session, which will culminate tomorrow.
“With this two-day preparatory session, we will be able to gauge our level of preparedness in the different stages and requirements of the WYD,” he said.
“The responses of those who will come today will also help each other’s readiness on the actual participation in the WYD,” he said.
The ECY-Philippines delegation is composed of 39 subgroups, which are divided into four clusters primarily for the assignment of their parishes for the DID in Coria Caceres.
Garganta said the ECY-Philippines delegates will start flying to Madrid on Monday, August 8, until Thursday, August 11. (YouthPinoy)
