Days in the Diocese Report
World Youth Day
Final Report to Parish Pastoral Council
“Youth: The Future and Our Hope” Pope Benedict XVI
Introduction
The Days in the Diocese program for St John the Apostle Parish Kippax ended on the afternoon of Monday 14 July when the last of our billeted pilgrims left SFX School by bus for the week-long celebrations in Sydney .
I will report that our hosting activity was successful, memorable and spiritually creative.
In my report to PPC on 12 June, I outlined the planned activities, referred to the known details then about our expected pilgrims, and mentioned gaps in organisation and concerns about funding. What follows will touch on some of these issues again and address how some stayed with us while others faded away.
The Pilgrims
PNG
Initially we were advised that we would receive 20+ PNG pilgrims from Rabaul and they needed to be accommodated from Friday 4 July. Because of passport problems in Port Moresby , only 14 of this group arrived in Sydney on that date. Since we had problems in having them hosted earlier than billeting families were able to take them, the 14 were accommodated with the MSC Community at Douglas Park until they moved to Kippax on Tuesday 8 July.
This was an inspired move. At Douglas Park they were given warm clothing and were shown a generous activity program including visits to Wollongong and Fitzroy Falls . When they arrived at Kippax they fitted into our arrangements easily. Their accompanying priest, Fr Frances Meli was an exceptional leader.
Canada
Eight Canadians arrived on Monday 7 July. They were from a Polish parish in Windsor which is a town in Ontario . After 36 hours of travel they were grateful to move quickly to their billets. The group included a Polish priest and a Polish nun. Fr Roman had previously ministered in Paris while Sr. Elizabeth was posted to Canada from Poland to be near a sick family member in USA .
Samoa
Sixty Samoans reached us on the afternoon of Tuesday 8 July. They were part of almost 400 Samoans billeted by the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn. Our party was led by Fr Ilalio.
We fed this group hot soup and bread plus tea and coffee while we arranged billeting. This was made particularly difficult because we had only scant details necessary for allocation to host families until their arrival. The consequence was a long delay until the pilgrims could move away from the Parish Centre.
During this time, the Samoans were introduced to our warm clothing racks and made good use of what was on offer. Clearly, they were shocked by the cold weather.
France
Until their touchdown at Sydney Airport on the night of Friday 11 July we knew almost nothing about this group. But we managed to set up a phone line contact directly to the WYD Arrival Centre inside Sydney Airport (without assistance from either WYD Office in Sydney or Canberra ) and established that there were 21 pilgrims in the party (we had billets for 20) and that they would reach Kippax about 1.00am on the morning of Saturday 12 July.
When they did arrive, they were well organised and we had them off to billets quickly. The extra pilgrim was easily accommodated. In the party was Fr Benoit Strebler.
Hosting
In the days before the pilgrims arrived, we suffered withdrawals from the number of billeting places being offered. But an appeal for an emergency list did the trick and while we approached the arrival days somewhat on a knife edge, the generosity of the Kippax parishioners came through in spades.
Some host families took more than their original offering. Others had to cut back and some had to cancel at the last minute. We also had some pilgrims who had to be relocated after being with one family for some days because of illness of the host. All of this was sorted out in good spirit.
The whole hosting effort was a display of enormous faith and love by the Kippax community and was exceptional.
Activities Program
Wednesday 9 July
After mass at the parish centre, the pilgrims were bussed to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.
It was extremely cold. We were assisted at Tidbinbilla by volunteer Rangers. Kangaroos were everywhere and the water birds were on display. A light lunch was taken at the picnic ground which was patrolled by an insistent emu which feasted on the apples offered by the pilgrims despite the objections of the park supervisors.
It was during this outing that it became evident that because of age and illness (one had undergone recent heart surgery) some Samoan pilgrims were limited in how far they could join in the scheduled activities.
The pilgrims were bussed back to Kippax by 4.00pm when Bev Purnell addressed them on the work of the Refugee Resettlement Committee.
As per the published program, all the pilgrims were taken by hosts to their homes by 6.00pm.
Thursday 10 July
Two buses took the pilgrims from the parish centre at 8.30am to a site at Uriarra. Greening Australia were our hosts and had us preparing a tree planting rehabilitation of a devastated hillside and valley which had suffered in the 2003 bushfires. We linked up with others from different parishes in Canberra and were part of a planting party of 300.
Planting got underway at 9.30 am and by 12noon between 3 and 4 thousand trees had been planted, watered and had protection shields placed around them. The conditions were extreme. It was so cold that pilgrims needed no encouragement to dig. It was the only way to keep warm. The winds were also strong and gusted to 70 kph blowing some pilgrims off their feet. The task was done in great spirit and the Greening Australia staff were delighted with the finished job. It was stunning and indeed unforgettable to witness what the pilgrims had achieved. This was without doubt a highlight of the Days in the Diocese program.
At 12.30pm we had a light lunch at the Cotter picnic ground. The pilgrims devoured the hot soup and coffee when we returned to Kippax at 1.45pm.
The programmed Youth Ministry activity was deleted once His Grace the Archbishop of Samoa stated his wish to celebrate mass at the Parish Centre.
Pilgrims returned to billets from 5.30pm.
Friday 11 July
As programmed, the pilgrims were split into two groups which were then bussed separately to the National Museum at Acton and the Southern Cross Ferry at Yarralumla. At 11.30am the two groups were swapped by bus and were then collected from both sites at 1.20pm and delivered to the Parish Centre. The ferry ride was especially appreciated particularly because of the commentary broadcast by the ferry master about historical places and monuments of interest. Fr Roman stressed to me how valuable he found this.
On each day when we travelled on a bus outing, the Samoans quickly demonstrated their outstanding choral skills and enthralled us with their harmony. At the National Museum while waiting in the entrance hall for their return ride to Kippax, they organised an impromptu performance and had put the hat out for donations. Whether or not they were about to be busted for doing so – or how much money they made - will never be known since the arrival of the buses ended their enterprise. Even so, they were greeted with cheers and applause by other Museum visitors for their efforts.
A BBQ lunch was provide to the pilgrims at the parish centre at 2.00pm.After the transport arrangements were explained for the Saturday events and mass at EPIC, many pilgrims returned early to their host families.
Saturday 12 July
Most host families took advantage of the ACTION bus run from SFX to EPIC for drop-off and pickup of their billets.
The Kippax pilgrims joined thousands of others for a day of activities organised by the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese and which concluded with mass at 3.00pm. Pilgrims were returned to their hosts by 6.30pm.
Sunday 13 July
The day was set aside as a free day for all pilgrims other than the French who participated in a mass at St Christopher's Cathedral at 6.00pm.
Most of the others went sightseeing or shopping but large numbers participated in masses at the Parish Centre in the morning and evening. Other pilgrims who had remained in Canberra following Saturday's events at EPIC were billeted at SFX School and they also attended mass at St John's . Most were Canadians from Montreal .
Monday 14 July
Following a Farewell Mass and light BBQ lunch, the pilgrims processed from the Parish Centre to SFX.
The buses to Sydney moved away at about 3.30pm.
Organisation
Most of our dealings were with the WYD Office at Yarralumla. Because that office was at times frantically busy or suffered from gaps in knowledge or held conflicting information, there were times when difficulties emerged or when it became hard to remain charitable towards those running what became known as Mission Control. Despite this, the bulk of problems were solved even if well after most people were in bed or with the help of contacts overseas or in Sydney . Here are some examples of those issues.
Local Samoan Community
A serious problem arose with the placement of 53 Samoan pilgrims. The WYD Office was under the impression that arrangements had been made for this group to be cared for by the ACT Samoan Community. At a very late stage in our planning, WYD Office asked us to attach this number to our activities program because it believed that activities organised by the Samoan Community were not adequately planned.
We struggled for days with this. It was so late in our planning that we were facing significant re-ordering of buses and the ferry arrangements would need to be rescheduled and an additional voyage organised. Food was another issue.
Finally I tracked down the leader of the local Samoan community. It was clear from my discussions that the extent of planning by this person was nil. When I asked where his pilgrims were being billeted so that I could give copies of our activity program to the host families, he told me that no billeting had been arranged. He was relying on local Samoans to come to a drop off point when the 53 arrived in Canberra and then take them to their homes. He had no plans to billet any who might not be placed under such a system. In the circumstances, I exercised my judgement and told the leader that we could not assist his group by attaching it to our activity program. Fr Michael endorsed my position.
I then contacted WYD Office and gave the same advice. I was accused of being harsh until I said that there was no billeting plan for this group. My advice was greeted with disbelief. Later I was thanked by the WYD Office for spilling the beans. WYD Office then did a panic allocation of the 53 among 10 parishes throughout the Archdiocese. We took none since we had a large pilgrim commitment at that stage and it was larger than our host family numbers.
I also shared this information with Charnwood. They had believed that the Samoan leader was not being straightforward with them and had been trying to resolve certain arrangements with him concerning their own Samoan pilgrims. When they voiced their concerns to WYD Office, they were not believed. They were grateful to us that we had exposed an issue which would have blown up at the last minute.
I mention these details because there has been some whispering that Kippax was unhelpful towards the Samoan Community and was needlessly tough. Nothing is further from the truth. Without our exposure of their lack of action, I think Charnwood is correct. There would have been a last minute problem. In contrast, the 53 were absorbed into parishes and shared fully in DiD activities throughout Canberra-Goulburn. WYD Office finally faced the fact that the original plan by the Samoan leader was that the 53 would isolate themselves as a self contained group in a way which was incompatible with the DiD principles.
Buses
It was impossible to get written confirmation of any of our local bus bookings (these were promised when bookings were made) and hence we held our breath until they turned up at the times booked. Nor did we have any idea as to the number of buses which would arrive and therefore would have to be paid for.
All turned up as booked. The arrangements for the split parties going at the same time to the Museum and Ferry on Friday 11 Julyand for the swap over at 11.30am seemed to have mystified Mission Control but this was sorted out with the good will of the bus drivers.
I have diary entries for how many buses were provided for each activity and before invoices are paid, details should be checked with me.
Pilgrim Details
This was a poor aspect of the advice received from WYD Office and from overseas. The Samoan information which was extensive and needed to be dissected early so as to make appropriate billeting allocations, was a shambles when it was made available on arrival. This made the billeting a drawn out affair and pilgrims and hosts were quite irritated at how long that procedure took. And we didn't gather all the information needed and had to compound the difficulty by calling for additional details at other times during following days when individuals had other things to do.
Sleeping Bags
This was a mystery from start to finish. After thinking we would be short, we have ended up with 17 sleeping bags surplus because more Samoans brought them to Australia than were predicted. Fr Hanns will take the surplus bags to Sydney where they will be put to good use.
We have received a credit for a shortfall in bags delivered to us by Mission Control (invoiced 60 – received 52).
PNG Pilgrims left behind
We faced last minute rearrangement when we were advised that only 14 of 24 pilgrims from Rabaul were on their way and that the other 10 had not been issued with passports by the PNG Govt.
But this became a more complex issue when the 10 were then divided into a group of 6 and a group of 4 and despatched separately to Sydney last Sunday. We found it impossible to get advice or assistance from Sydney WYD Office and could only find out last weekend that they were destined to be accommodated at OLSH Primary School at Randwick . And we had their sleeping bags hereat Kippax. There was little we could do other than hope and pray that everything would be sorted out when they and Fr Meli and the Kippax pilgrims linked up on Monday night.
The French
Once again we could get no travel details for these pilgrims from any official source. But when we connected with the reception desk at Sydney Airport using non-WYD contacts, we were finally equipped to make their late night arrival at Kippax a relatively quick one.
Charnwood Parish
Part of our initial planning was to absorb the 20 Samoans billeted at Charnwood into our activities program.
This went off without a hitch and quickly became seamless in large measure because of the assistance of Charnwood parishioners especially Lorraine Marlow and Sr Colleen.
Masses
Masses were celebrated throughout the week at St John's with a variety of liturgy which created the sense that St John's was indeed a 'happening' place
On Monday 7 July, the PNG Community in Canberra celebrated the feast day of Blessed Peter To Rot. Regrettably, our Rabaul pilgrims were still at Douglas Park but St John's resounded to the music of PNG singers at mass celebrated by a PNG Bishop. It was the start of what we would see all week: colour and energy added to the sanctity of the mass liturgy.
On Wednesday before our activity at Tidbinbilla, a mass was concelebrated by a number of the pilgrim priests and Fr Hanns. The music from the Samoan and PNG pilgrims was stunning and evocative and the singing of the Offertory Procession by the Canadian Poles was deeply moving.
The Archbishop of Samoa celebrated mass at St John's at 3.30pm on Thursday. It was unusual to see Fr Michael Fallon MSC as principal celebrant assisted by an Archbishop but not in some eyes.
Again the liturgy was boosted by the singing of the Samoans. After mass, the Archbishop mingled with his people during afternoon tea.
Again at Sunday masses, the pilgrims were prominent with their singing and their presence. Canadian pilgrims who had been billeted at Young had marched under their flag from SFX School to St John's . It was a moving experience to witness this as I drove past them on my usual route to Sunday mass which I have taken so unthinkingly for more than 36 years. Such faith in young people.
Finally, we celebrated a farewell mass on Monday at 9.30am. The word had got around even though it was not in our published program and our church was full. All the priests participated, included retired Fr Paul Tarpey from Charnwood, and each national group contributed to the liturgy. It was a mass to remember and was concluded with the now-famous Blessing Song from the Kippax parishioners for the pilgrims. Those who were there struggled with the emotion of it all. Truly, this was a memorable event in the life of the parish of St John the Apostle, Kippax.
Positives from DiD for Kippax
I have mentioned the Masses. The inspiration which came from the liturgy of each mass was stunning. Kippax parishioners will talk about this for a long time to come.
The parish centre was truly enlivened during the week and became indeed a prayer centre. Our humble facilities and spaces were shown to be so practical and our pilgrims were at ease with the space unlike they may have been if everything were inside an ornate church.
The availability of donated warm clothing was a plus. Thank goodness we had enough. Some of the Samoans and some from PNG were wearing more than one jacket but none of the Kippax parishioners could fail to understand why. It was such a freezing week in Canberra .
Volunteering was exceptional. Whenever we asked for assistance from parishioners, it was speedily and readily given whether it was to help with cooking BBQ, or working in the kitchen, or transporting luggage and so on.
Donations of food, clothing and money were very generous. We were not left short of anything we needed.
Billeting was the icing on the cake. Here was the outstanding contribution to WYD from the parish of Kippax. Not only was it so generously given, it was given flexibly and cooperatively and as a result, the organisers found their job much easier to handle.
Negatives
I won't go over the matters I have mentioned under Organisation earlier in this report and which were largely the responsibility of the WYD Office. Some of the following matters are more directly connected to Kippax.
A few of us were frantically searching for a lost pilgrim at EPIC on Saturday night. He was reported missing by his host family and despite contact with the EPIC security personnel and with WYD Canberra Office staff at EPIC, by 9.30pm he was assumed to be lost. Earlier that night – and this was confirmed on Sunday morning - he had gone home with some Canberra relatives. Permission had been sought from and given by the host family but a mix-up over arrangements for passing him over to the relatives had created the mystery.
Some pilgrims were given permission to attend West Belconnen Leagues Club on the night of Friday 11 July. Reports of curfew breaches and slightly intoxicated pilgrims drifted around the place over the weekend. This may be as few as 3 and should not be exaggerated. Even so, there were some problems and it would be wrong for me not to report these as having occurred.
There was illness which afflicted some pilgrims and at least one host. In the case of the former, this persisted over some days for one pilgrim who stayed in bed most of the time. With the host, this necessitated the pilgrims being relocated to another billet.
The departure from SFX for Sydney was not well handled. Buses to Sydney were organised by the WYD Office and all travelled to Campbelltown Railway Station. Kippax parishioners helped out and indeed assisted a group of pilgrims from Goroka in PNG load their luggage and board the final bus to Sydney . Some pilgrims were disgruntled about what they saw as a disorganised free for all especially when their luggage was loaded onto a bus different to the one on which they were travelling.
At Campbelltown, we had a report of a lost Samoan pilgrim who had been hosted at Kippax. Apparently he and his luggage had become separated from the larger party in the crush at Campbelltown. But he found Sarah Sams who sorted him out and quickly had him on his way.
Costs and Funds
Our main costs are for buses during the three days of parish activities. We have received invoices for $1750 to cover 7 buses @ $250 ea. My diary shows that we received 6 buses and should therefore be up for $1500.
We also paid $1800 for 60 sleeping bags but have received a refund of $240 since we only received 52 bags.
Costs for food, coffee and other consumables are largely defrayed by donations.
This means that our hard costs are about $3000 whereas our fundraising was in excess of this. Marian England suggests that we contribute $500 to Douglas Park to cover costs incurred there. I support that suggestion.
I do not propose we seek to recover some of the bus costs from Charnwood. The donation of meat which was costly and cake and biscuits is, in my view, an appropriate offset.
I am unaware of final funds raised but feel confident we are able to cover all costs for DiD for Kippax.
Thanks
I have written short notes of thanks to Greening Australia, National Museum of Australia , Southern Cross Ferries and the WYD Office in Canberra . I have not written to Douglas Park or to Charnwood parish.
May I thank Sarah Sams and Marian England for their huge contributions to making the Kippax part of WYD so successful? We worked well as a team and did so where each was aware of the strength of others and each worked to that strength rather than duplicating the other's tasks.
Special thanks are due to Maureen Craddock and Anne Drury who always seemed to be populating the office or the kitchen around the clock.
Likewise, Lorraine Marlow from Charnwood was tireless. There were others whom Marian can name.
Thank you Fr Hanns and Fr Fallon for your gentle spiritual encouragement and prayer for the success of our activities. And a special thank you Fr Michael for asking me to do this task in the first place. I have been enriched and rewarded by the experience.
And finally – and I can never say this enough – thank you to the Billeting Families whose performance was nothing short of marvellous.
John Drury
WYD Coordinator
St John the Apostle Parish
KIPPAX ACT 2615
17 July 2008
Other photos which capture some of the joy and excitement of this memorable week in the lives of Kippax parishioners and their guests can be found in the worldyouthday.photo gallery.
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