Photo grabbed from cbcp-ecy.ph
MANILA, Feb. 8, 2013—Youth pilgrims to the 2013 World Youth Day under the Episcopal Commission on Youth Philippines (ECY-Philippines) delegation are now preparing their various groups for the upcoming WYD celebration in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Marlon Antolin of Kadang Dominiko said that they will meet this coming Sunday to plot their plans to raise funds for their group.
“The meeting this Sunday is to plot our plans to raise funds for our group which includes a parish raffle and the youth ukay-ukay. We are also planning to create a support group in the social networking site Facebook to gather our former and current members including our friends from Madrid for prayers and financial support as well,” Antolin said.
He added that aside from financial needs, they also have weekly meeting and monthly sharings so as to strengthen their spirituality in order to prepare well for the international gathering.
Antolin furthered they will be having a dinner concert in May to raise funds for the group.
In Parañaque, Peter Pardo, youth coordinator of the diocese said there will be a series of formations for the youth participants at the first weekend of February until the delegation preparatory sessions on July, as a means of preparing their group for the WYD celebration.
“Our preparation is more on deepening of the team and experiencing being together as a group of pilgrims,” Pardo said.
He said they are encouraging their participants to raise their own funds which will mostly be coming from their own pockets, prompting him to add that “many are called, but few can afford.”
In the diocese of Antipolo, youth delegates said series of meetings and formations are already being held for the members of their delegation.
“Meetings and formations are necessary for our members so that they will be acquainted. We will focus more on spiritual formation and we will study the message of the Holy Father to the youth for the World Youth Day celebration as part of our preparation,” said Dani Villanueva, Antipolo youth coordinator.
For their financial needs, Villanueva said they have already started last year several fund raising programs to gather budget for the group.
Meanwhile, the YouthPinoy! media team that is tasked to cover the international event is also gearing up for the celebration.
The group is starting to send solicitations to possible sponsors and benefactors.
WYD 2013 will be held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on July 23-28, 2013. But before that, a Missionary Week will be held in all the arch/dioceses in Brazil on July 17-20. Petrópolis will host the ECY-Philippines delegation for the Mission Week activity. (Jandel Posion)
