World Youth Day had ‘so much excitement’

From The Superior Catholic Herald...
 

“You cannot explain the noise, noise, noise,” Katie Zenner of Medford said, describing the scene of World Youth Day in Lisbon, Aug. 1-6. This noise was hundreds of thousands of people chanting to Pope Francis, singing songs in their native languages and jumbo-trons transmitting live video.

“There was just so much excitement in this youth,” she added.

Zenner, a member of Holy Rosary Parish in Medford, traveled to Portugal with her sister, Ann Harris, who attends Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Whittlesey. The pair formed their own small group with two of Harris’ granddaughters, Kaylee Harris, her friend Miriam Rundy, and Katie Snyder. Snyder was a student at Holy Rosary until her family moved to New London, where her mother is director of religious education. Harris’ daughter, Angie, had been to World Youth Day in Denver and took groups to the event in both Cologne and Toronto.

The morning of the final Mass, after sleeping “like sardines” on a layer of crushed granite, Zenner said her sister was wondering why everyone in their section had moved to the roped barrier. Mass wasn’t scheduled to start until 9 a.m. but Pope Francis was making rounds, being driven through the makeshift roads between all the roped-off sections where pilgrims slept and would participate in the closing Mass. They were thrilled to see Pope Francis about 50 feet away, and jumped right in with all the cheers.

Read the rest of this news story on The Superior Catholic Herald (official publication of the Diocese of Superior) website here...