The Future of Our Church

If there is any doubt about the future of young people in the Catholic Church, one look at the mass of humanity that attended World Youth Day this summer in Portugal will dispel it. “It was amazing,” says Suzie Lyons, a junior at Loyola University Chicago. “Chaotic at times, definitely. But it was amazing.”

Lyons was part of a group that included students from Loyola, Creighton, Marquette and Xavier universities, as well as non-Jesuit schools. Led by Xavier regent Matthew Zurcher, SJ; Midwest Province Vocations Promoter Fr. Eric Immel, SJ; and Fr. Paul Shelton, SJ, the Midwest provincial assistant for vocations and the provincial delegate for World Youth Day Magis, the trip was part pilgrimage, part campout, and, for many, entirely life-changing. The festival had energy, enthusiasm, and emotion. It also had Pope Francis, who generates the excitement of a rock star and commands the reverence of a saint.

“He was everything I think I could have hoped for him to be,” says Katherine Colburn, one of the chaperones from Xavier University who got a close look at the pope. “I was surprised by how much it touched me. He was such a humble man.”

Colorful flags from 190 nations waved, and several languages were spoken, yet there was no communication barrier. One-and-a-half million young people attended the pope’s final Mass, but it was his opening ceremony that touched many, and even brought some to tears.

“It was my favorite part because that was the global Church right there,” says Rocco Giegerich, a Xavier sophomore. “I was able to see it right in front of my eyes. That was a moment where I felt God really strongly, and I was able to recognize God in almost every single person standing there, even though there were hundreds of thousands of people.”

In his welcome speech, the pope emphasized that there is room for everyone in Catholicism. “In the Church, no one is left out, or leftover,” he said, and at one point the crowd chanted “Todos, todos, todos,” which translates to “Everyone, everyone, everyone.”

“That message was so refreshing,” says Maggie Jurek, a senior nursing student at Xavier. “It gave me a lot of hope for the future of our Church.” Zurcher, an organizer and chaperone, was just as moved by Pope Francis as the students. “I don’t know if it’s the office or him, but by far, [he’s] the most charismatic human being I’ve ever seen in my life,” Zurcher says. “He’s telling us about Jesus. He’s telling us we are called by name. He’s telling us that God loves us, and people are cheering like crazy. There’s no power like that anywhere.”

That was only one of the Midwest Jesuit delegation’s powerful and endurance-testing experiences. The group arrived in Portugal more than a week before World Youth Day to attend a Magis gathering with other young people affiliated with the Jesuits. Two thousand people gathered at a high school in Lisbon that became known as Magis Villa. For two days, they slept on classroom floors and celebrated Mass on an athletic field. Then, they were divided into groups and sent on Magis experiences in either Portugal or Spain. Some worked with the poor. Others, like Noah Bock, walked parts of the Camino de Santiago.

“We hiked for four days,” says Bock, a senior at the University of Michigan. “It was rough. We tried to get up as early as possible to beat the heat. Then we’d have our lunch, we’d swim or take a siesta. In the evening, we’d have Mass and dinner, then go to bed and do again it the next day.” During those four days, his group covered almost 56 miles.

Coburn, the chaperone from Xavier, loved the Magis Circles, the small spirituality groups that met at the end of each day. “You were able to form intimate and deep relationships with people from other countries very quickly,” she says.

Maggie Jurek took a 10-hour bus ride to Madrid, where she worked with the elderly, immigrants and young children, all as a non-Spanish speaker.

“I kind of realized love and service, and just being with people, can really surpass any language barrier,” Jurek says. In addition to co-organizing the trip, Fr. Shelton helped organize the Midwest group’s Magis event. “Part of our thinking as a province was, this is a great way for people to think about how God wants them to serve the Church,” he says. “This is why we wanted young men and women to come to think about how is God calling you to give your life for the kingdom of God.“

The province also took all pilgrims to Fatima. When the experiences ended, they returned to Magis Villa, where a Mass was celebrated with the provincial of Portugal and Father General Arturo Sosa, SJ. Lyons, the junior at Loyola, was chosen to serve at Mass. “To be a part of that and to be a part of a Mass celebrated by Father General was spectacular,” she says. “Getting to serve with people from Zimbabwe, Spain and Portugal was absolutely amazing.”

There was added significance to the Mass since it fell on July 31, the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. After Magis, the group moved on to World Youth Day events, and as the week came to a close, they hiked eight miles with their belongings in 95-degree heat to the site of the pope’s final Mass. What was hard on the body proved good for the soul.

“It had been a long day and we were camped out in sleeping bags in this huge field, and we had adoration,” says Bock, the senior at Michigan. “It just amazed me how quiet one-and-a-half million people can get in the moment of adoration. I was praying with all the anxiety and the things that were running through my head, and I really felt this peace in that moment.”

All saw firsthand that the universal Church has no borders. They also got to see “all of Catholicism’s expressions and flavors throughout the world,” Fr. Shelton says. Beyond that, the youth of the Midwest came home with new international friendships, a part of the experience that profoundly moved Xavier sophomore Giegerich. “I have never felt so connected to, not only God, but also humanity,” he says.