99 Vancouver pilgrims bound for WYD Rio 2013!

The Archdiocese of Vancouver will have 99 pilgrims from 19 parishes (grouped into 9 parish groups) journey to the 2013 World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  This number includes many young adults making their first WYD pilgrimage and will also include 5 priests and few seminarians.

Over the last two years, many of the pilgrims have been planning, fundraising and praying to prepare themselves for this great journey.  A big thanks goes out to their WYD group leaders who have been working very hard to get their groups ready.

A few pilgrims have left Vancouver already, while the majority of them will be leaving on or around July 15 to make their way to Missionary Week, the pre-WYD program, formerly known as "Days in the Diocese."  Following Missionary Week, the pilgrims will journey to Rio for the main events of World Youth Day from July 23 to 28.

The Vancouver pilgrims are counted among the 1,100 Canadians registered for this WYD.  Many of them will meet at the Canadian gathering to be held at the Welcome Centre at Vivo Rio on Thursday, July 25.

Here are the parish groups with the number of pilgrims attending:

Blessed Sacrament, Vancouver - 16 pilgrims and 1 priest

Holy Cross, Burnaby - 7 pilgrims

Holy Family Parish, Sechelt - 4 pilgrims

Immaculate Conception, Delta - 15 pilgrims and 2 priests

Our Lady of Sorrows, Vancouver - 20 pilgrims and 1 priest

St. Bernadette, Surrey - 3 pilgrims

St. Joseph, Port Moody - 5 pilgrims

St. Patrick, Vancouver - 6 pilgrims

Star of the Sea, Surrey - 18 pilgrims and 1 priest

To stay update with the Vancouver pilgrims, follow this blog at www.vanwyd.blogspot.ca and/or follow the Twitter account @VanWYD

For more info on WYD Rio 2013, visit the official website here.

By Gerard Garcia

Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry
Archdiocese of Vancouver