By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer

ATLANTA—On Aug. 12, 250 area teens and young adults will board a flight for Rome, Italy, prepared for the experience of a lifetime.

The archdiocesan group will join approximately 1.5 million people there for World Youth Day 2000, and will have the opportunity to celebrate a liturgy with Pope John Paul II, hear music, attend workshops and lectures and build community with fellow young people from around the world.

Over 17,000 Americans, representing 130 U.S. dioceses, are registered for the event, accompanied by 45 cardinals and bishops, including Cardinals Anthony J. Bevilacqua of Philadelphia, Francis E. George of Chicago, William H. Keeler of Baltimore and Adam J. Maida of Detroit. The U.S. pilgrims will join participants from 163 countries, an all-time global high that planners believe is related to the celebration of the Jubilee Year.

The WYD 2000 festivities mark the seventh international World Youth Day since its establishment in 1987 by the pope.

“It’s going to be an experience like nothing they’ve ever had,” said Matthew Robaszkiewicz, director of youth ministry for the archdiocese.

The group organized through the archdiocesan youth ministry office is made up of individuals and groups from about 20 area churches and St. Pius X High School. In addition, three parish Life Teen groups from Atlanta will travel under the auspices of Youth Arise International, an organization that sponsors worldwide youth rallies.

Represented in the archdiocesan pilgrimage are people from the following churches: All Saints Church, Dunwoody; the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta; the Church of St. Ann, Marietta; St. Anna’s Church, Monroe; St. Benedict’s Church, Duluth; St. Catherine of Siena Church, Kennesaw; St. George Church, Newnan; the Church of the Good Shepherd, Cumming; Holy Family Church, Marietta; Holy Trinity Church, Peachtree City; St. Theresa’s Church, Douglasville; St. Jude the Apostle Church, Atlanta; St. Lawrence Church, Lawrenceville; Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Carrollton; Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Decatur; St. Pius X Church, Conyers; Church of the Transfiguration, Marietta; St. John Vianney Church, Lithia Springs.

Also, parishioners from the Church of St. Ann, St. George Church and St. Andrew’s Church in Roswell will be among 2,000 teens and young adults involved in Life Teen nationwide who will make the pilgrimage to Rome.

The Life Teen ministry has joined with Youth Arise International, an organization that works in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for the Laity. The Life Teen groups will attend a Youth Arise rally in Turin, Italy, prior to the events in Rome.

While in Rome, participants will begin the WYD festivities with an opening ceremony on Aug. 15. The pope is expected to welcome all pilgrims to Rome and World Youth Day, first greeting and thanking the young people of Italy and Rome at the Basilica of St. John Lateran and then proceeding to St. Peter’s to greet the pilgrims from other countries.

Upon arrival in Rome, participants will receive a “pilgrim’s sack” containing the Gospel of Mark, a prayer guide, a terracotta candle holder, an official WYD bandanna and a map of the city to help them navigate their way between events.

During the days of Aug. 16-18, participants will be divided into three groups of about 200,000 people each to allow for better organization and movement throughout the city. On a rotating basis, each group will have the chance to pass through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, a first-time opportunity for a World Youth Day event.

Throughout these three days, there will be faith-sharing sessions in over 32 languages with bishops from all over the world at 160 sites. Besides these sessions, over 280 programs will take place at over 260 locations and will represent more than 30 countries. The night of Aug. 17 will feature a large musical concert in English featuring many American artists.

On the evening of Aug. 18, selected pilgrims will participate in an evening Way of the Cross procession from the Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli to the Colosseum, led by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, papal vicar of Rome.

Throughout the events, over 2,000 priests will be available in 30 languages in 300 confessionals placed in the Circus Maximus, a large grassy field once used for chariot races in imperial times. The youth may participate in the sacrament of penance from 7 a.m. to midnight.

Saturday, Aug. 19 begins the pilgrimage to join in the Mass with the Holy Father, the culmination of WYD events. Pilgrims are expected to walk between three and six miles before reaching Tor Vergata, a university campus on the outskirts of Rome, where they will join in an evening prayer service with the pope. Spending the night in the open field, the pilgrims will awaken the next morning and participate in the closing Mass Aug. 20 celebrated by the Holy Father.

In an effort to get to know each other, several of the young adult pilgrims met July 27 at a restaurant in midtown Atlanta. They spoke of their excitement in traveling to Rome and experiencing the WYD activities.

Christy Barba, a parishioner at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Carrollton, said that she has been spending time in prayer to prepare for the trip.

“I just feel like there is a reason that I am going,” she said. “Nothing was planned, but it all worked out so perfectly.”

Barba said that she is most excited about seeing Rome and joining in the Mass celebrated by the pope.

This will be the second time in Rome for Rozlin Broome, a parishioner of St. Ann’s Church, attending her first WYD. She said her last trip to Rome, which she took several years ago, did not allow her to experience the full unity of her faith that she is anticipating WYD will bring.

“I guess last time I was concentrating on the historical roots,” she said. “But this time, these are my ground roots. This is where my religion came from.”

Michelle Basket, program assistant for the archdiocesan office of young adult ministry, is also looking forward to exploring her Catholic roots.

“I’m a cradle Catholic and the faith, I feel, is my family’s greatest legacy,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to experiencing the history of my faith.”

Basket’s mother and aunt will accompany her on the trip.

“I’m really looking forward to experiencing it with them,” she said. “I think the whole trip is just going to be overwhelming.”

Basket said she is most looking forward to experiencing the universality of the church.

“I can’t wait to hear people praising and singing in a variety of different languages,” she said. “When you realize that all those people are gathered for one singular purpose and that we have the same beliefs, it’s just overwhelming.”

Basket is also looking forward to interacting and networking with other young adult ministers from around the world.

This will be the third trip to Rome and third World Youth Day for Cindee Case, archdiocesan young adult minister.

“This whole trip definitely has a trinitarian theme for me,” Case said.

Her prior experiences at WYD have helped her to understand the universal church, she said, but she is aware that each opportunity to hear Pope John Paul II is precious, given his age and frailty.

“I am looking forward to hearing his final words of wisdom for young adults,” she said. “I am sure they will be quoted often and I’m anxious to hear what he will tell us that will guide our ministry for the next few years.”

Father Augustine Tran, a parochial vicar at St. Thomas More Church in Decatur, is one of several archdiocesan priests who will make the pilgrimage.

As a seminarian, Father Tran studied at the North American College in Rome. He suggests that the young people prepare for the pilgrimage by praying for the pope and reading about Rome and the history of the Catholic Church. He believes that the pilgrims will truly get to experience the universal church.

“We tend to only see ourselves and think of ourselves as the church ... By seeing the youth from all over the world, I hope that (the teens and young adults) will see that the church we belong to is not just our parish and not just the church of Atlanta, and not even just the church of the world,” but the communion of saints and those in purgatory, he said.

He also hopes that the pilgrims will experience the great beauty of Rome.

“That beauty elevates the mind and heart to God,” he said. “I pray that it really enlivens their faith and they come back with a new desire for spreading Catholicism.”

Robaszkiewicz said that he is anticipating a powerful experience for those attending WYD.

“For me, the great thing is always the experience of the kids and watching them grow,” he said. “It should be really powerful for them.”

For those interested in following WYD events, daily news reports and photos from Rome can be viewed at the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ web site during WYD at www.nccbuscc.org/laity/youth/wydrome.htm.