The Catholic Church in Australia will be hosting World Youth Day (WYD) in a few weeks. This event invites young Catholics (usually in their teens, 20’s and early 30’s) to come together for a week of prayer, celebration, learning and getting to know each other. Usually many hundreds of thousands of Catholics participate. In the past, countries often made special plans to help young people from different countries to connect. For example, one year, the US and countries in Latin America enabled young people to become pen pals before the event. Technology is now making this much easier. Australia’s WYD committee has just launched a social networking site for Catholics at www.xt3.com Although the site is specifically focusing on those who will attend WYD next month, it actually invites all Catholics to join.
The beauty of this site is that it enables the relationships formed during WYD to continue afterwards. Most of the countries who send young people to WYD struggle with how to get the wonderful benefits of the event to continue afterwards. WYD is often a life-changing experience for young Catholics. But when they return home, they get busy with other things. Parishes, dioceses and bishops’ conferences struggle to find ways to help them keep the connections, the energy and the memory alive. This social networking site is a great idea that just may do the trick. Time will tell.
In the meantime, if you are 16 or older, join the site and get to know other Catholics around the world.
