Denver Catholic

CATHOLIC LIFE I 3 DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER I AUGUST 28, 2013 20th anniversary of JPII visit marked REAL LIFE CATHOLIC CHRISTOPHER STEFANICK Denver 1993: Launching pad for the new evangelization PHOTO BY DANIEL PETTY FOR THE DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER ARCHBISHOP Samuel J. Aquila delivers the homily during the Aug. 15 outdoor Mass at the John Paul II Center, which marked the 20th anniversary of World Youth Day 1993. Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, sprinkles of rain provided a gift BY JULIE FILBY Communion and Liberation and just like the one delivered to Mile High Stadium during the Some 2,000 people gathered Opus Dei. "It is truly wondrous when pope's welcome 20 years earlier: in Denver Aug. 15 to celebrate 20 years since hosting World Youth you reflect on what has been the a rainbow. Many grabbed camDay Aug. 11-15, 1993. The out- grace of God poured out upon us eras to capture the moment. As the sun sank behind the door event had the look and feel in the Church of northern Coloseminary, people filled the 1,000 of a family reunion: with adults rado," he continued. While events officially began folding chairs to view a video gathered on blankets and in lawn chairs on the grounds of the John at 4 p.m., people began arriving compilation of footage from Paul II Center for the New Evan- in the courtyard—flanked by the '93, along with interviews with gelization, reminiscing about old brick buildings of St. John Vian- WYD organizers. Again camertimes and catching up on the lat- ney Theological Seminary, Christ as, phones and tablets came out ideal, inest news; while children played the King Chapel, Redemptoris from all over the crowd to capin the grass nearby, enjoying the Mater Archdiocesan Mission- ture the moments. Some wiped ary Seminary and the chancery their eyes when moved to tears heolog-sunny afternoon. anthro- Stories were told, songs were offices—around 2:30 p.m. They during footage of Blessed John the newsung and prayers were prayed— anticipated the program of live Paul II repeating in his thick Polthat theall in gratitude for the many gifts music, pilgrim testimonies and ish accent: "You have confidence ys startsbestowed by the family's beloved never-before-seen video footage, in Christ. You have confidence in while strolling through a make- Christ. You have confidence in d frompatriarch, God the Father. creating "Little did ... any of us know the shift museum filled with WYD Christ!" Archbishop Aquila—who had mage. impact (World Youth Day) would displays, artifacts and relics. During the celebration, some planned and participated in domin-have on the Archdiocese of Denhumanver, the United States, and on the reflected on the labors of love as- liturgies with the Holy Father since he was a priest in Denver all menworld," Archbishop Samuel Aq- sociated with WYD. "We wouldn't take a million at the time—used several hisve theiruila said during his homily. "Let om theus lift up our hearts in gratitude dollars for the experience, but torical liturgical items during e wrote. to the Father for the gift of WYD we also wouldn't take a million the Mass including: the origiore theand all the fruit it has borne in dollars to do it again," joked Joan nal altar, altar cloth and ciboria Deges, a parishioner of Queen of used at Cherry Creek; a chalice mind forthe new evangelization." More than a half-million pil- Peace in Aurora. She along with the pontiff gifted to the Denver strictlygrims attended the five-day gath- her husband, Gene, chaperoned Archdiocese, the gold chasuble John Paul II wore at the Catheellectualering, the only WYD held in the 12 teenage pilgrims. "It was truly a pilgrimage," she dral Basilica of the Immaculate ditation,United States, though a dismal reflec-turnout was expected. Countless said of the task of trying to keep Conception, and the chairs vocations and ministries have up with them, and feed and hy- embroidered with columbines been attributed to Pope John drate them in the summer heat. from McNichols Arena. , Page 15Paul II's message to preach the The Mass ended with ArchBarbara Popielak, a parishioner of St. Joseph Polish in Den- bishop Aquila bestowing a papal Gospel "from the rooftops." "I find it amazing... and cer- ver originally from Poland and blessing with a plenary indultainly a sign of the grace of the longtime president of the local gence on the congregation. "It was incredible," Alison TaFather at what has happened in John Paul II Society, hosted 18 our archdiocese," Archbishop pilgrims from Poland, Canada oka, a parishioner of St. Thomas Aquila said, then mentioned sev- and France. Many stayed in tents More in Centennial, said after Mass which she attended with eral specific examples including in her backyard. "Those were wonderful, won- her husband, Dan, and their four the founding of two seminaries, Fellowship of Catholic Universi- derful days," she said, sporting young children. Taoka particity Students, Augustine Institute, a WYD '93 T-shirt and a lan- pated in WYD '93 as a teenager Endow, Catholic Association of yard containing her original and called it a "life-changer" that solidified her faith foundation. Latino Leaders, Centro San Juan credentials. "I've already told the kids that Shortly before the 6:30 p.m. Diego, Christ in the City, as well as ecclesial movements such Mass celebrating the solem- I'll do what it takes to get them to as the Neocatechumenal Way, nity of the Assumption, a few one." It's been 20 years since World Youth Day 1993. It's no accident that Blessed John Paul II chose Denver for the event. Archbishop Charles Chaput remembers being on the committee that made recommendations to the Holy See about which city should host the event. "The vote in that group of bishops went to Minneapolis/ St.Paul because of the large number of Catholics there, because they were experienced at having major events," he said. "Nonetheless, the Holy Father chose Denver." I think that's because World Youth Day was never just about the attendees, but about the world he intended to unleash them on. Like Jesus, who loved preaching with the sea as his backdrop—an image of eternity that, unlike the sky, is accessible to man—John Paul II loved to pick key locations that would help him convey his message. He often made reference to the symbolic meaning of where he was while preaching. And multiple times during his presentations at World Youth day '93, the Holy Father referenced "the modern metropolis." Denver is a thoroughly New World city—not just historically but spiritually. As strong as the Church is in Denver, by no means is it a Catholic city. Catholics only represent 16.4 percent of the population. Nor is Colorado known as a pro-life state. It was the first U.S. state to legalize abortion. Nor was it a "safe" city at the time. World Youth Day coincided with a terrifying wave of gang violence in the city that took the lives of innocent bystanders. The "culture of death" John Paul II described was alive and well in Denver. Think of the audacity of the Holy Father, to bring a Catholic event for youth here—in the hope of drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees! What he saw in Denver that few others saw, was the perfect launching pad for the "new evangelization," which he constantly spoke of—that is, a renewed proclamation of the Gospel to a world that's already heard of it (as opposed to non-Christian cultures), using all the energy, creativity and means of modern communication at our disposal. The late Bishop Roger Kaffer, who was an auxiliary bishop in Joliet, Ill., privately relayed a conversation to me that he'd had with John Paul II about the connection of World Youth Day and the new evangelization. Bishop Kaffer: "I'm talking about your upcoming visit to Denver at every confirmation. Is there something I can tell the youth that 'the pope told me to tell you'?" JPII: "I wrote you a letter!" the pope shot back, referring to his 1985 Apostolic Letter to the Youth of the World. Bishop Kaffer: "I know. I read it. But I want something live from you." JPII: "Yes. Last year (1992) I went to the Dominican Republic to inaugurate the 500th anniversary of the evangelization of the Americas. I consider my coming to Denver (for World Youth Day '93) to be the close of that jubilee year and the beginning of the new evangelization of the Americas and of the world, and I'm counting on youth to help." And help they did! I wonder how many reporters had to trash the stories they prepared for the event with headlines like "Catholicism proves its irrelevance with dismal turnout for World Youth Day in Denver." Or perhaps, "Young people show up in droves to protest antiquated Church." Or worse, "Young people caught in the crossfire of gang violence." Instead, 750,000 teens showed up. I guess they hadn't gotten the memo that Catholicism doesn't speak to young people. As for Denver's violence, all crime in the city came to a grinding halt during the event. It's hard to count the number of people I've met whose lives were changed, who discovered a vocation, or birthed a new apostolic initiative because of that World Youth Day. Anti-Catholic reporters were probably as dumbfounded as the devil was on the first Easter Sunday. Wherever they're hosted, World Youth Days tend to be among the largest gatherings in a nation's history, if not the largest. Denver was no exception. (I've often heard World Youth Day referred to as "the Catholic Woodstock." For the record, World Youth day tends to outnumber Woodstock by anywhere from a half-million to 5 million See Stefanick, Page 15

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