The next World Youth Day will take place in Panama in 2019. It has been scheduled for January instead of July due to the local weather. The changes are causing concerns for some, but almost all are still excited for the trip.
The Panama Canal acts as a door from one side of the world to the other and this event will help allow the Catholic youth to open the door and see so many people like them from all over the world.
Pope Francis, the first pope from South America, announced the location last July at WYD in Kraków, Poland.
Brooklyn World Youth Day veterans have concerns but are not slowing their plans for the next trip. Last Friday at the Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston, a monthly prayer group was held and welcomed Kraków 2016 alumni.
Joseph Hadzovic of St. Frances Cabrini, Bensonhurst, is making adjustments.
“Everyone thinks it will always be a big country, so hearing Panama surprised me. Like all the other World Youth Days I have been to, this will be its own experience and Panama will only add to that. No World Youth Day is like the last and this will be my fourth so it will have its own experiences and create a different mentality, but I am very much excited.”
Sister Marie Mackey, C.S.J., is also looking forward to the trip.
“I went to Denver in 1993. I was not a sister at the time and the trip had a great impact on me entering religious life,” said Sister Marie.
“I am planning on going to Panama, as the future of our Church is very much alive in the Southern Hemisphere. Students will be affected with the trip being in January as that time is very important for upperclassmen in high school. But my own schedule is more free at that time, so there are benefits for me.”
Waylon Athayde and Brandon Cabrera of St. Bartholomew’s, Elmhurst, were both in Poland for their first World Youth Day and cannot wait for Panama.
“I went to Poland and it was one of the best experiences of my life,” explained Athayde. “I am very excited for Panama as we have a lot of Hispanic people in our group so this will be important for a lot of us. Being in January will still have the same bonding experience and it won’t affect that aspect of the trip. People will still have an amazing experience.”
Cabrera added, “The trip changed my view of how I see myself and I saw a better future for our faith. Being our second trip will allow us to be more prepared even with the changes.
“I am very excited for Panama, it being in January will affect me, yes, but I will work to make sure it will work out. People will still have the same amazing experience as on all the other trips.”
