Adelaide Archdiocese hands over with hands up

This morning we collected the Cross and Icon from an all night vigil at Hectorville. At 8am there were still about 50 people in the Church which I thought was pretty impressive. Many of this 50 were older members of the parish.
The devotion of older members of parishes has been a common aspect of the Cross and Icon’s journey in each of the 14 Dioceses we have now travelled through. It really excites me that these people are so passionate about their faith and so excited by WYD and the opportunity it presents to the Church. WYD will have the biggest impact if it involves the whole Church.

The Oblate Community in Australia were to have the Cross and Icon for a youth retreat for the rest of the day. The Mass at Dernacourt effectively signalled the end of the Adelaide Archdiocese’s time with the Cross and Icon. The official handover ceremony was conducted and the Archdiocese handed over to the Oblate youth reps from around Australia.

Flags representing countries that Oblate pilgrims will come from next year for WYD were carried in to begin the liturgy. The Gospel was performed by the local primary school children and there was a time for veneration. The people from the Archdicoese spoke with passion and pride about their time with the Cross and Icon. They spoke about the events which had touched them and their communities, saying that walking the Cross through the streets of Adelaide had been a momentous time, in which they were able to publicly celebrate our faith in Christ Jesus.