2009 Calendars on sale! 
Some of the pictures taken by pilgrims at WYD have been made into a calendar for 2009. These attractive CD case calendars are on sale from the Youth Pastoral Centre priced £4 each. Contact us at youth.pastoral@btconnect.com to order yours today! World Youth Day enthusiasm continues to grow in Glasgow Following on from the wonderful experience our pilgrims enjoyed at this year's World Youth Day in Sydney, a number of projects are taking place in Glasgow. A number of the pilgrims are keen to build on their experience by supporting the growth of youth ministry in their local areas. Recent developments have included a fundraising concert at Our Lady of Consolation and the beginning of the "Food for thought (body and soul)" initiative which piloted in 4 of our deaneries at the beginning of Advent. More to come on this in the near future... World Youth Day: 8th-23rd July 2008Sydney, Australia 
51 pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Glasgow made the journey to World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia. Below you can see a few snaps and some of the experiences of our young adult pilgrims: 
 Claire Monaghan, a pilgrim from St. Patrick's, Dumbarton, shares her homecoming experience:
"Although being very involved in my own parish I was unable to attend all of the meetings leading up to World Youth Day, so i was quite nervous about what my time in Sydney was going to be like. My faith has always played a huge part in my life but in my own way and I was worried that World Youth Day would be too intense and to be honest a bit boring!
How wrong was I? From the first moment, arriving in our host parish church hall (St. Paul the Apostle, Albion Park) I felt excited and that feeling never left me for the rest of my stay. In Wollongong we celebrated Mass every day and each day the gospel related to our situation at the time. It was a great way of realising we were already taking part in God's work without a conscious effort to do it.
Chris Docherty, one of our group leaders spoke with us before heading back home and said that when we go home yes, tell people your experience and everything that you did but also remember you will get some grief about it and some won't understand and will laugh at it. Chris was right! After sharing my experience, people have laughed at it but also like Chris said we can't let that bother us. We just have to treasure our experience and not let others reactions' take away from it.
It's hard to put into words what World Youth Day has done for me because I'm not completely sure myself; but i think over the course of the next few weeks what I will have learned and gained from WYD will hit with a bang and then i will know exactly what to say.
Pope Benedict once said that the church is still young and WYD 2008 showed this with flying colours. It was amazing to be able to voice, sing and celebrate my faith openly and with support from 400,000 other young people.
There will always be a stigma attached to religion if you choose to be open about it, but i believe in God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit and I am thankful for all the opportunities and help the church has provided me with throughout my life."
 James McBride, from Holy Family and St. Ninian's, Kirkintilloch:
"This was my first experience of WYD and I enjoyed every minute of it. I remember my parish priest telling me in early 2007 that WYD would be a fantastic occasion for any young Catholic to be involved in, that it would be hugely enjoyable and help strengthen my faith. He was spot on!!!
I had a terrific time Down Under. It was a great adventure and I feel very privileged and fortunate to have shared this experience with so many kind and caring people, from my Host Family to my fellow pilgrims.
It's not always easy being a Roman Catholic in Scotland. Sometimes we are made to feel ashamed of who we are and what we believe in. This should not be the case. We have no reason to be embarrassed of what we believe to be important. Instead, we have many reasons for why we should be proud. For me, a large part of the WYD pilgrimage was having the opportunity to spend time with other young people who also shared my belief in God and His Church.
I made many good friends, some of whom I've already met up with since we arrived back home. I'm truly grateful for each one of them.
Now, all I need to do is make sure I don't miss out on Madrid in 2011, LOL." 
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