| 2005 XX WORLD YOUTH DAY |
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SUNDAY 21st AUGUST 2005 Seventy-Three young people with Bishop Michael Smith attend, as pilgrims, the XX World Youth Day which is taking place in Cologne Germany.
Two groups of young people are travelling from the Diocese to these celebrations: a group of around sixty young adults under the leadership of Fr. Mark English and a group of young Travellers from Navan. It is disappointing that only twenty-five parishes have managed to encourage participation with forty-four parishes not able to find anyone who was willing to travel. The practice is for those taking part in World Youth Day celebrations to spend some days in a parish in the host country. The group from the Diocese is being hosted by the parish of Lamspringe in the Diocese of Hildesheim, close to Hanover in North Germany. This parish looked after the remains of St. Oliver Plunket for over one hundred years following his martyrdom in 1681. After his canonisation in 1975 a group from Ireland, including the late bishop John McCormack, visited Lamspringe. On that occasion a Relic of St. Oliver in a silver monstrance was presented to Bishop McCormack. This is now in Oldcastle. Enclosed find copies of the Message being issued by the Irish Bishops for the World Youth Day celebrations. It is expected that several hundred thousand young adults from all over the world will gather in Cologne for these celebrations. The theme for the celebration is "We have come to Worship Him". Prayers of Intercession Introduction - 1. As Pope Benedict spends these days in his home country with the young adults of our Church, we ask you o give him health of mind and body for many years 3 So many young people in our community despair and lose sight of the value of life - help them find hope and a new attitude to living. 4 We thank you for all the comforts that we can so easily take for granted and we pray for those families, across the world,, who hunger for food and thirst for justice.
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