WASHINGTON (July 17, 2002) –- Leaders in young adult ministries will have a new way to keep the World Youth Day spirit alive after their groups have returned from the six-day international event in Toronto.

The U.S. Bishops' Subcommittee on Youth and Young Adults has placed a post-World Youth Day resource manual on its website at www.wydusa.org. The manual was compiled and edited under the supervision of Ana M. Villamil, Associate Director of the Bishops' Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth. It incorporates ideas from diocesan and parish staff as well as original material written by Dominic Langevin, O.P., a seminarian who undertook this project as his pastoral internship.

Noting that World Youth Day can be a "peak experience followed by a let-down," Ms. Villamil said the follow-up manual was developed "to help young people convert a short-term pilgrimage into a life-long journey in the grace of Christ."

The resource guide builds upon Sons and Daughters of the Light, the U.S. Bishops' 1997 pastoral plan for ministry with young adults. It provides activities for follow-up meetings with young pilgrims after their return home from World Youth Day. It also offers topic-based programs for discussion groups, individual reading, and group activities. The topics correspond with themes that will be woven throughout World Youth Day activities in Toronto.

All material in the resource manual is designed to be adapted and used in a flexible manner according to local needs.

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