by Antonina Zielinksa Seeing Pope Benedict XVI live for the first time was a highlight of World Youth Day 2011 for Brooklyn and Queens pilgrims. Temperatures reached 97 degrees Fahrenheit in Madrid on Aug. 18 and clouds were few and far in between. It was in this heat the pilgrims from the diocese stood for […]
Author: Antonina Zielinska
Reporter’s WYD Diary (with slide show)
by Antonina Zielinksa On the first full day of WYD, the pilgrims from the Diocese of Brooklyn, still tired from the opening ceremony the night before, started out their day early in their morning with catechesis in the Love and Life Center. Drowsiness did not keep them from participating in the music played by the […]
Official Opening of WYD (with slide show) *web exclusive
by Antonina Zielinska Before pilgrims from the Diocese of Brooklyn headed over for the official opening Mass of World Youth Day 2011, they spent an hour in silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament with hundreds of other English speaking pilgrims. The Brooklyn and Queens pilgrims headed over to the Palacio de Deporters (Sports Center) where […]
SS. Peter and Paul, Williamsburg pilgrims During WYD
by Antonina Zielinska Among those outside of the official diocesan delegation were young people from SS. Peter and Paul parish, Williamsburg, who joined nearly 300 other pilgrims from the U.S. on a month-long pilgrimage to Portugal, France and Spain. The Servants of the Lord and the Virgin Matara Sisters accompanied them. They logged many miles, […]
Slide show of Local WYD Pilgrims Touring Segovia, Spain
Ancient Cities Impress Delegates from Diocese (slide show)
by Antonina Zielinska MADRID — The day before World Youth Day officially started, pilgrims from the Diocese of Brooklyn joined their counterparts from around the world to celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the ancient city of Avila, Spain. Msgr. Jaime Gigantiello, pastor of Mary, Queen of Heaven, Old […]
Holy Toledo! – Diocesan Pilgrims Tour Historic City Prior to World Youth Day Activities (slide show)
by Antonina Zielinska MADRID, Spain – In the days leading up to World Youth Day, early arriving pilgrims from the Diocese of Brooklyn were taken on a guided tour of Toledo, a city located 60 miles from Madrid. The city has been populated since the Bronze Age and grew in importance during the Roman Empire. […]
Slide Show: Embarking on Pilgrimage, WYD 2011
by: Antonina Zielinska After a six-hour overnight flight, with little to no sleep and no breakfast because of turbulance, the second group of World Youth Day pilgrims from the Diocese of Brooklyn arrived in Madrid Aug. 13, exhausted but ready to to begin their spiritual journey. When the pilgrims were finally allowed out of the […]
A Pilgrim’s Progress Getting to Madrid
by Antonina Zielinska After a six-hour overnight flight, with little to no sleep and no breakfast because of turbulance, the second group of World Youth Day pilgrims from the Diocese of Brooklyn arrived in Madrid Aug. 13, exhausted but ready to to begin their spiritual journey. When the pilgrims were finally allowed out of the […]
Ready for Madrid – World Youth Day Commissioning Celebrated at Pastoral Center
by Antonina Zielinska Less than a week before World Youth Day pilgrims from the Brooklyn Diocese boarded planes for Spain, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio and Auxiliary Bishop Frank Caggiano met with them and celebrated a sending off Mass at Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston. “Today we begin our spiritual journey,” Bishop DiMarzio told the pilgrims during the […]
