Diocesan groups plan trip to Toronto
By KATIE LEFEBVRE
Globe staff reporter
Posted July 11, 2002

In Diocese of Sioux City, groups from Sioux City, Carroll and Sheldon are going to World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto, Canada. The theme of WYD is "You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world." Mt.5, 13.14

Monica Lang, a teacher at Kuemper High School, is taking a group from Carroll and picking up people in Ames and Des Moines. They are leaving July 21 and returning July 29. Thirteen students from Carroll, eight chaperones and 49 people in all will be making the trip to Toronto. On the way, the group will stop at Niagara Falls.

"Where are we staying?" asked Lang. "No one knows yet. Maybe on a gym floor or in a church basement."

Another group going will be led by Nancy Michels, pastoral minister at St. Mary's in Rock Valley, Sacred Heart in Alvord and Christ the King in Sioux Center. Three students, two from Sanborn and one from Sioux City will leave July 21 by plane to Toronto and come back July 29. The group will be staying at the Radisson Hotel in Toronto.

"We will attend and participate in the conference," said Michels. "We have set aside prayer time each day for the students."

Dr. Paul Wolpert will be leading a group of 80-85 from Sioux City beginning at Trinity Heights. The group from Sioux City will include students, 14 chaperones, five sisters, seven brother, one or two priests, three physicians and two nurses.

The festivities in Sioux City will begin July 19 when approximately 20 people from the west coast arrive. Dr. Wolpert has been working with a national group, and they will fly into Sioux City. While here, they will stay with host families on Friday night.

The activities in Sioux City will include a 9 a.m. on July 20 Mass at Cathedral celebrated by Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo, followed by a walk to Trinity Heights. The walk is about 3.2 miles while carrying all of their belongings as a practice for the pilgrimage in Toronto.

"The activities in Sioux City are to prepare and organize for World Youth Day," commented Dr. Wolpert. "They will be learning skits, songs and dance steps."

From Sioux City this group will travel in charter buses to Toronto. On the way, they will meet up with other groups from Dover, Del. and from Toronto at Niagara Falls.

"This will give the youths a sense of community," said Dr. Wolpert. "This isn't going to be like home. They will experience different kinds of food and facilities and sleeping in close quarters."

The week of programs will begin with a Mass of Welcome celebrated by His Eminence Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic and end with a papal Mass.

While in Toronto, there is going to be daily Mass, confession and catechesis teachings. The youth will gather by language groups to receive instruction in the Catholic faith. Each of these sessions will last around three hours and will include teaching by a bishop, discussion period and a Mass. The different Masses will remember St. James and Sts. Ann and Joachim, parents of the Virgin Mary.

Other things to do include social service projects (helping the sick and homeless), concerts, plays, dance and discussions. Attending WYD will give youth from around the world an opportunity to meet new people, make new friends, learn from each other and share their faith.

Spiritual preparation for WYD can be done by using a handbook called Salt and Light: Preparing for World Youth Day 2002. The book is eight chapters long and can be followed by a group or individually.