At WYD in Madrid, (l-r) Dr. Maggie McCarty, RCLAM Executive Director,
Bro. Álvaro Rodríguez Echeverría and Bro. George Van Grieken, Regional Vocation Ministry Director.
“Share with others the joy of your faith.” This was the message of Pope Benedict XVI at the 2011 World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain. Lasallians from the USA-Toronto Region joined the thousands of young people who attended this bi-annual rendezvous with the Pope last August. Highlights included the opening Mass, catechesis sessions, and Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.
Superior General Brother Álvaro Rodríguez Echeverría addressed an international gathering of a thousand young Lasallians during the WYD event.
Dr. Maggie McCarty, RCLAM Executive Director, facilitated two English-speaking catechetical sites on behalf of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. “World Youth Day has become a significant marker of Catholic identity in the lives of many young Catholics,” said Dr. McCarty. “The Young Lasallians gathering in the midst of such a major event created a solid identity for those students that they are part of something bigger–the universal Lasallian community.”
In his closing address, the Pope invited all those present “to give a bold witness of Christian living” to their friends when they return home. “In this way you will give birth to new Christians and will help the Church grow strongly in the hearts of many others.”