Drawbacks, failings, flaws, shortcoming or whatever you might call it about the recently concluded World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, are now surfacing as Pilgrims talk upon arriving in their own dioceses and Parishes. WYD Madrid was by far the largest Catholic assembly to date this millennium outside Rome, and has been tagged as one of the best so far. But behind the accolades are surfacing complaints from Pilgrims about disorganization of the events which led to massive exclusion of almost 100,000 pilgrims during the Youth Vigil at Cuatro Vientos Aerodrome. According to the Director of WYD Communications for Madrid, Yago de la Cierva, the problem started even before the WYD began. As the Days of Diocese attracted Spanish Young People who weren’t registered for WYD to join the event on the coming week, almost 2 Million young people descended to Madrid. When the day of the Youth Vigil came, an estimated 100,000 registered young pilgrims were turned away from the venue by the Police because of the over crowing at Cuatro Vientos. Police were afraid that people might get hurt if the aerodrome is overcrowded that is why they refused some of the Pilgrims to enter. Despite their authentic and correct passes, they were still refused admittance by the Police. There were 1.5 Million Pilgrims present during the Vigil. Of the 1.5 Million, only 445,000 were registered of which some 100,000 of those registered were left outside. So you do the math. Over 75% of the Pilgrims inside the Cuatro Vientos during the vigil were unregistered. They just came along and celebrated with the Pope. de la Cierva was apologetic, and said the organizers regretted that this happened but it was the best way to secure the area and the people inside.

Despite this major shortcoming which left many Young Pilgrims disappointed, there were other blunders that added to the event’s isolated drawbacks.

• Many of the registered groups came with unregistered pilgrims and used the groups limited pass to secure passes for the unregistered pilgrims many times. Thus some of the areas intended for the registered Pilgrims were occupied y Unregistered young people.

• The area fences lacked security and volunteers manning them that’s why young people assigned from far away fences vacated their spot and transfereed to fences near the stage. Thus disorganization of Pilgrims on their assigned zones.

• Majority of Young people who attended the Final Mass did not receive communion because of an earlier problem which occurred during the thunderstorm of the Youth Vigil. Most of the host to be consecrated were soaked in rain as the tents covering them collapsed due to strong winds. Thus it was impossible for the Liturgist to acquire wafers with the exact same number in due time.

• Portable Toilets were lacking inside the Cuatro Vientos rendering most of the Pilgrims who were there the night before, penitential of personal hygiene and toilet needs.

• Most Young people with food vouchers and who lined up on restaurants hours or more were turned away after some restos ran out of food.

My Take

Every World Youth Day has its own flaws and shortcomings. Actually these flaws are minor flaws only. It becomes a major flaw when large number of people are consequently affected, obviously in Madrid.

WYD events require penance and sacrifices. This is what some WYD Pilgrims don’t realize. Yes, you are there to enjoy and have fun, but you are also there to give witness to Christ. Inconveniences like these are unavoidable especially with this kind of masive assembly. That is why, in a lighter note, unavoidable circumstances like these needs patience rather than grumbling.

But for the part the organizers, the problems voiced out by Pilgrims could have actually been avoided if they only anticipated some solutions even before the problems took place. Like for example the wafer, there should always be a backup in case something happens. A priest carry extra wafers when he says mass outside his parish to anticipate the unforeseeable number of mass goers that might attend the liturgy. But the Liturgists failed to set aside extra wafers for the event.

Another solution is the division of the Eucharist. Some Eucharist were given whole to each Pilgrim taking communion while others were not lucky to receive while waiting in line. The priest could have just divided a single host into many pieces because the presence of the body of Christ does not diminish as the size of the host gets smaller. No matter how small the host a communicant receive, it still has the same Christ present, just like in larger hosts. Many could have recieved communion if only they applied simple economics.

What I am puzzled about is the lack of Portable toilets. I don’t understand why organizers overlooked this very basic need of Pilgrims. During the WYD 2008 in Sydney, the first structure that was built on the site of the Opening Mass in Barangaroo and the Final Mass in Randwick Race course were portable toilets. I have some opinion why Organizers failed to anticipate these problems but I will hold my opinion till the next post.

To all WYD 2011 pilgrims, these inconveniences are no match for the graces and indulgences you received in WYD 2011. Don’t let these few shortcomings ruin your once in a lifetime experience. The lack of toilets, the lack of food, the rejection and the lack of place to stay are but normal trials faced by Pilgrims in a journey. In rel life, it is far worst. Don’t let a day of inconvenience overshadow your lifetime of happiness and memory with the Pope and the Youth of the world.

In 1995, during my time when I attended the World Youth day in Manila, there were so many inconveniences and shortcomings that happened to me:

• I wasn’t able to see the Pope when he arrived from the airport because our team leader was too lazy to go to the streets and decided that we should stay in our foster parents home and just watch the Pope on TV. They all slept except me who was following the event on TV. The Pope passed by in front of the subdivision we were staying back then. I was so close in seeing pope John paul II in person. I wasn’t able to go on myself because I don’t know the way going to the main gate. Up to this day, I still cringe at the thought my team leader slept while other pilgrims were on the streets waiting for the Pope to Pass by.

• I waited for almost six hours before Our registration were completed, hours before the opening Mass started.

• Our group weren’t able to finish the Youth Vigil because of lack of security. Ordinary people and locals began destroying our fences and encroaching our designated spaces. We were forced to vacate our place because people are coming from all fronts. And because of that we were made to walk 10 Kms to our designated bus stop and went home at 3 in the morning in our foster parents house. We weren’t able to attend the Final Mass.

• On the way home on our Service, Our general team leader scolded me about my over-zealousness in seeing the Pope, and blatantly told me that I wouldn’t be able to attend the event if not for him who included me on the list. What he said was true. I was only included in list during the last minute because someone backed out. But till now, I still think that I don’t deserve such degrading remarks and personal insults back then. But its all water under the bridge now, because everything was worth the inconveniences I received and experienced.

But despite all these shortcomings I experienced during the WYD 1995 in Manila, it didn’t stop me from cherishiong the whole experience. Actually it made the whole journey even more memorable and interesting. If not for these inconveniences I experienced during the 1995 WYD, there would be no OTWOMD which you are reading right now.