So, the craziness that was WYD is finally over. I survived and, after it was all said and done, I had a fantastic time and came out with a lot of good stories and memories. Let me explain:
To begin, it was wonderful to return to my nice, relatively comfy bed in Madrid. I was finally back in community with my beloved brothers, but in reality, those first couple of days were absolute madness. There were 250 kids staying in the house and in order to feed so many mouths, the community had ordered a catering company to make a picnic lunch and supper that we could tote around town during the events of WYD. Sounded nice, but they turned out to be very small and not very good. That means that I ate breakfast and then not too much after that! So to get to the fun stories…
My good friend and brother Oblate, Grzegorz from Poland, works for the Vatican Press Office and seeing that his Press credentials would work for the WYD events, he invited me one afternoon to the Press Office to see what would happen. So, bullying his way to the front desk with his official looking Vatican ID card, he demanded that we be given press credentials so that we would have access to the big events. The trick worked and the poor, scared little volunteer helped us out right away and within 30 minutes we were issued our Press ID cards without a single official piece of paper in our hands! This was my first introduction to the world of diplomacy where confidence and good BS matters more than an official document. (The closest thing I come to any sort of Journalist is this silly blog!)
Now, having completed our task with ease, I felt a little guilty about having my pretty card that gained me up-front access to events with the Pope. But, not one to let a good thing go to waste, I decided to go on Friday with Grzegorz to the Pope’s Stations of the Cross in spite of my guilt. We went back to the press office, and after waiting a few minutes for our Event Pass, hopped in line to board the buses that would take us to the Plaza de Cibeles. After arriving in our nice, air-conditioned buses with police escort at the square, we were seated in the press bleachers at 5PM in the hot sun. The event didn’t start until 7 so we had to wait a good 2 hours in the hot sun. At one point I started feeling kind of sorry for myself until I looked down to see the huge crowds of people that had been there almost all day and were cooling each other down with water bottles! After that I quit complaining..
Pilgrims cooling down from the 95 degree heat.
Then came Saturday and the famous WYD All-Night Vigil…
As I said last post, I had made excellent friends with the Oblate Sisters during the Malaga Experience so I made plans with one of them, Raquel, to hang out with them during the Vigil and for the Mass the next morning. Accordingly, I went to their house at 4PM Saturday afternoon and had coffee while they got ready to leave for ‘Cuatro Vientos’ (Four Winds) Airbase where the events would take place. We set out on our journey with our sleeping mats and bags (along with backpacks full of water and food) around 5. The 1.5 million-plus crowds being what they were, we got as close to the airbase as we could by metro. After seeing that the lines had shut down, we set out on foot for the first trek of the day.. It ended up taking over and an hour and a half because when we arrived at our gate we found out that it was completely shut down and that we had to walk over a mile around to the back gate. With joy in our hearts and a decent amount of energy despite the heat, we trekked another half hour before arriving at a desolate spot with no view, no television screen, and almost no sound (from the speakers at least). So, we found a nice spot, sat down, and shared some food before the craziness started.
Walking it out..
Now, almost as soon as the Pope started speaking, it started raining, lightning, and blowing like mad. I had brought a half broken umbrella that I found along the way, and thank goodness I did because it saved us from getting completely soaked. The wind blew around 50 miles an hour for a good 30 minutes and, for that, Cuatro Vientos sure lived up to its name that night! Even though we couldn’t hear a single word of the Holy Father, we had a pretty interesting time just watching people’s tents blow around and huddling three people under a tiny little umbrella…truly an event to remember!
When the official part of the ceremony finished, we realized that it would have been pointless to try to sleep there if was going to rain all night. Luckily though, one of the Oblatas and one of the lay women with us both had a house that we could stay in for the night and they were ‘just a 30 minute walk away’! Famous last words…
So after ONE HOUR AND FORTY-FIVE MINTUES of walking…we showed up to a warm bed and a cold shower. Even though I was almost dying after having walked so far, I was grateful to have a nice bed and to get almost 4.5 hours of sleep (a decent amount for that crazy week..).
The next morning we set out anew for Cuatro Vientos, but this time luck was with us because one of the ladies drove us almost all the way there! So we got to our gate only to find out that they were not letting anyone in or out…the police had shut down the entrances completely due to the chaos that had reigned during the night. But here is where my Press Card really paid off: I was able to get in without too much of a problem with a stern face and purposeful step; I even got in two of the Oblatas! But that was when trouble started…one of the girls was too timid to push her way in and ended up getting stuck in the crowd outside the gate after we had entered. Not being willing to simply leave her to fend for herself, I approached several policemen, even the boss, with my Press Pass (all while maneuvering between English and Spanish to keep them on their toes) to try to get her in…all without success. We had stood around for about 20 minutes trying to figure out what to do when a official looking guy in a suit walked up and, recognizing the authority of my pass, let our lost sheep, Teresa, in without too much of a problem! Finally, my conscience was eased; my slight play on the truth in order to get this Press Pass finally paid off in spades! I was finally able to use it for someone else’s good.
My trusty Press Pass (see it??) :)
So we entered the Airbase while it was still dark and most everyone was still sleeping. We then waited another 2 hours for the Mass to start while just enjoying each others’ company. And finally, Mass began. It was a beautiful moment; looking back at the crowds it seemed like an army encamped and prepared for battle.
The crowds prepared for battle (Spiritual Battle, hopefully)
All were here to celebrate the closing Eucharist with our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI and the atmosphere was charged with a profound peace and reverence for the sacredness of the moment. What amazed me even more was that when it was all over there was no rush for the exits but, rather, only a slow and steady pace: God was truly present that morning!
The peaceful exit
That evening I decided to make one last use of my beloved Press Pass by going to the Pope’s meeting with the 20,000 volunteers. There turned out to be very high security, and after what could have been a slight problem but which I smoothly maneuvered out of (I didn’t have the correct Press Pass Code for the event), we entered the building with about 7,000 youth volunteers.
The sea of green volunteers
This turned out to be one of the more interesting events because I was blessed to see the Pope from about 15 feet away!
My view of the Pope!
He said some touching words about the dedication of the volunteers and was off in his PopeMobile. I also headed for home after a good 28 hours on the streets.
Y colorín, colorado, este cuento se ha acabado: The Spanish equivalent to ´Happily Ever After´ A nice end to a tiring, dehydrating, but touching and beautiful World Youth Day-Madrid 2011.
Last picture of the Pope...totally looks like he is blessing you :)
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