World Youth Day 2019 USA Leader Guides Stateside Leader Guide | Page 57

Different cultural experiences Understanding how WYD is a celebration of
A stateside pilgrim will not have the same catholicity (universality) helps leaders to better
experience of a different culture as an create an experience that prompts participants
international pilgrim, at least to the extent that to reflect on their own culture and put it in
can be gained by physically traveling to dialogue with other cultures, all in the light of
another country. At WYD, the culture is not Christ and the Church community.
only experienced through the host country (in
this case, Panamá), but also through the Understanding the degree to which stateside
various people that a pilgrim may meet from pilgrims are exposed to such diversity will be
all over the globe. Stateside pilgrims may not helpful in crafting this conversation with
have those kinds of encounters, but they may international participants. As you make plans
still be able to enter into dialogue and for the stateside WYD celebration, it will be
experience with people of other cultures. helpful if those cultural experiences were
Many stateside events can include a cultural integrated into the programming – so that this
piece that celebrates the music, dance, and can be a common point of reference for both
food of the international host country stateside and international pilgrims.
(Panamá), and in that experience, share with
CONNECTING COMMUNITIES
their international pilgrim counterparts what
those cultural components meant to them.
Immediate Follow-Up for Pilgrims
In addition, there could be opportunities for Any WYD (stateside or international) will
stateside pilgrims to meet people from need to process the experience on a variety of
different cultural experiences in the United levels. Opportunities for small group
States. This diversity could be cultural conversations and reflections, journaling, and
(European, African, Hispanic-Latino, Asian quiet prayer are highly encouraged.
and Pacific Islander, Native American),
economic, or geographical or regional (East At the conclusion of WYD, pilgrims should
Coast, West Cost, Midwest, South, urban, be reminded that they are expected to share
suburban, or rural). There are many their experience with their community (family,
opportunities to engage with various friends, parish, diocese/eparchy, campus,
populations which the pilgrims can discuss as workplace, or movement). This could be done
a common point of reference afterwards. by writing reflections; sharing via social media;
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