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WASHINGTON (August 15, 2000) -- More than 17,000 U.S. youth from 130 dioceses in the United States will participate in World Youth Day in Rome, August 15-20.
Participants represent the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.
The youth include members of the U.S. Military Archdiocese stationed in Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Most of the participants are from 16-39 years of age and are lay people. Forty-five of the participants are bishops. Others are priests, sisters, deacons, or brothers.
Around 1,400 of the participants will participate in Days in the Dioceses in Italy leading up to the event. Among the Italian dioceses hosting the youth will be the Dioceses of Acireale, Andria, Aquila, Arezzo, Assisi, Avezzano, Benevento, Capua, Castellaneta, Catanzaro, Citta' Di Castello, Crotone, Iglesias, Mileto, Milano, Orvieto, Pescara, Pescia, Pozzuoli, Reggio Calabria, Salerno, San Benedetto, Terni, and Verona. Thirty-one of the U.S. participants will join the 25,000 official volunteers who will greet World Youth Day participants.
Young people from the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey will be part of the opening ceremony of WYD 2000 and sing the theme song from the 1993 World Youth Day in Denver. In addition, 125 people from the United States will be among the youth serving as Eucharistic ministers at the Papal Mass on August 20.
Two young adults, Isadodelis (Isa) Tejada from the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, and Alejandro (Alex) Madrigal from the Archdiocese of Miami, Florida, will represent the United States at the International Youth Forum, August 12-15, which precedes World Youth Day. They are among pairs of youth from every country in the world invited by the Vatican to be a part of the Forum. As part of their experience, the two will share with the other delegates their experiences of the Church in the United States.
U.S. Cardinals to attend World Youth Day 2000 include Cardinal Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua of Philadelphia; Cardinal Francis George, OMI of Chicago; Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore; Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston; and Cardinal Adam Maida of Detroit.
Other bishops include Bishop Robert Carlson of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver; Bishop Thomas J. Connolly of Baker, Oregon; Bishop Blase Cupich of Rapid City, South Dakota; Bishop Thomas Daily of Brooklyn, New York; Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Camden, New Jersey; Bishop Richard Hanifen of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Bishop Sam Jacobs of Alexandria, Louisiana; Archbishop James Keleher of Kansas City, Kansas; Bishop John Kinney of St. Cloud, Minnesota; Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb of Mobile, Alabama; Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Newark; Bishop John McCormack of Manchester, New Hampshire; Bishop Patrick McGrath of San Jose, California; Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell of Palm Beach, Florida; Bishop Sean O'Malley of Fall River, Massachusetts; Bishop Raymundo Peña of Brownsville, Texas; Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMI of San Angelo, Texas; Bishop David L. Ricken of Cheyenne, Wyoming; Archbishop Justin Rigali of St. Louis; Retired Bishop Stanley G. Schlarman of Dodge City, Kansas; Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz of Anchorage, Alaska; Bishop Carlos Sevilla, S.J. of Yakima, Washington; Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Washington; Bishop Arthur Tafoya of Pueblo, Colorado; Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland, Oregon; Bishop Michael Warfel of Juneau, Alaska. Auxiliary Bishop Emilio Allué, SDB, of Boston; Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Britt of Detroit; Auxiliary Bishop Edwin Conway of Chicago; Auxiliary Bishop Richard Garcia of Sacramento, California; Auxiliary Bishop Thad Jakubowski of Chicago; Auxiliary Bishop Roger Kaffer of Joliet, Illinois; Auxiliary Bishop Robert Morneau of Green Bay, Wisconsin; Auxiliary Bishop William F. Murphy of Boston; Auxiliary Bishop Leonard Olivier of Washington; Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto of Orange, California; Auxiliary Bishop John C. Wester of San Francisco; Auxiliary Bishop William Winter of Pittsburgh; and Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of Los Angeles.