The Centro San Lorenzo (International Youth Centre) at the Vatican recently celebrated its 29th Anniversary. This is the centre located just outside St. Peter’s Square which welcomes young people from all over the world when they are in Rome either studying, working or just visiting. The centre which facilitates many international languages is open every day except Sunday for daily Mass, Adoration and to welcome pilgrims and visitors to Rome. There is also a regular programme of cathechises, evangelisation and social events organised specifically for youth. The San Lorenzo church which forms part of the centre contains the original World Youth Day Cross entrusted to the youth by Blessed John Paul II in 1984.
The Emmanuel Community is entrusted with looking after the centre and the Emmanuel School of Mission serve there each week (helping organise the music and liturgy on Tuesdays and Fridays) as well as going on mission with the Cross in St. Peter’s Square or on the streets of Rome every Friday. Youth celebrate their faith and culture together at the International Mass each Friday which is followed by refreshments and social time. This Mass is regularly celebrated by Bishops and Cardinals – it is certainly a privilege to encounter the collaborators of the Pope at the heart of the Church. Pope Benedict visited and celebrated Mass there in 2005. It is great also to celebrate Christmas and Easter liturgies at the Centro, as well as carnival season and other festivities. Regular catechises sessions are organised while the centre also hosts international communities and movements for events and Pilgrimages in Rome. Other events include the Pilgrimage of the Seven Churches, Forums of the Emmanuel Community and the Easter Tridium Retreat in conjunction with the ESM. There is a great feeling of community at the Centro, it is wonderful to meet so many young people from all over the world – a real experience of the universal church at the heart of the Church!
To mark this year’s anniversary Cardinal Paul Cordes who was Vice-President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity at the time when the Youth Centre was established celebrated Mass. Aftwerwards during the refreshments and cutting of the birthday cake the Cardinal explained the history of the centre. He spoke about how the initial gatherings of youth from the various movements at the centre gave the impetus for International Youth Gatherings in Rome in 1984 and 1985 leading to celebration of the first World Youth Day in the eternal city on Palm Sunday of 1986.
The relics of Saint Claude Colombiere and Saint Margaret Mary recently came to the Centro and were part of a special programme of evangelisation and outreach to mark the anniversary. They were taken to Churches in the busy tourist districts of Piazza Navona and Campo di Fiori while the students of the ESM co-ordinated the mission on the streets with the WYD Cross. It was great to see so many youth join us in song and dance and we had great conversations with people from several countries including Ireland! Many of those we spoke with visited the churches to offer a prayer and venerate the relics of these great saints, who were responsible for the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (from 1673-1675 Jesus appeared to a young nun named Margaret-Mary from the Visitation Monastery in Paray le Monial in France, showing her His heart burning with love – this was authenticated by her Jesuit spiritual director Fr Claude la Colombière).
Personally, the Centro and the World Youth Day Cross have been a pivotal part of my spiritual journey. I first encountered the Cross at WYD 2002 in Toronto. Then it came to my home parish of Mullingar and to Dublin in advance of the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne. In 2007 I encountered the cross for the first time at the Centro while visiting Rome. It was during this time that I encountered the Emmanuel School of Mission for the first time en route to the Catacombs in San Sebastian. In 2008 the Cross travelled to Sydney in Australia for the first World Youth Day in Australasia, which I also attended. In 2010 I encountered the Cross again in Rome during the 20th anniversary celebrations of Youth 2000, and again in Rome 2011 as I considered embarking on this year of mission and then of course at World Youth Day in Madrid. The World Youth Day Cross has definitely been a very symbolic part of the living out of my Catholic faith as a young person. I have entrusted my worries, fears and concerns as well as my hopes, joys and thanksgivings to the Cross – trusting that I am handing them to Jesus who sets me free to be on fire with love as a missionary for Him. Being so close to this Cross has definitely been one of the highlights of being at the Emmanuel School of Mission this year – the cross which truly symbolises the the redeeming nature of God’s love, emphasised by Blessed John Paul II when he trusted it to the youth of the world “My dear young people…I entrust to you…The Cross of Christ…carry it throughout the world as a symbol of Christ’s love for humanity, and proclaim to everyone that it is only in Christ, who died and rose from the dead, that salvation and redemption are to be found”.
