Meet our Pilgrims
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Ben Gorrie
Bachelor of Nursing,
Melbourne Campus (St. Patrick's)"I guess I'm looking forward to getting together with a lot of other ACU students and also meeting new students from the Melbourne campus. I'm also looking forward to participating in the activities, even though I really have no idea what they entail, but I'm still looking forward to it. I'm most looking forward to the youth festival at the Strathfield campus, as this should be a good opportunity to feel a sense of community within ACU."
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Jane Carpio
Bachelor of Psychological Science,
Melbourne Campus (St. Patrick's)"I’m looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends, not just from Australia but from overseas as well. Also, I’m looking forward to seeing the Pope and getting the chance to attend the mass that he will be giving. Even more, I’m also excited to explore Sydney, even though I live in Melbourne. Besides that, I’m also looking forward to doing the long and tiring, but surely worthy, walk from North Sydney to Randwick Racecourse, the Evening Vigil and the sleep out, hoping that the weather permits it."
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James Wood
Bachelor of Teaching / Bachelor of Arts,
Melbourne Campus (St. Patrick's)"Personally I am looking forward to growing spiritually and strengthening my faith, independence, leadership skills and friendships while also meeting new people from a diverse range of backgrounds. I am Anglican, however I have come to relate more to Catholic values and beliefs as a result of growing up within the Catholic Education system at Whitefriars College in Donvale, and attending ACU National. I have been grateful through my secondary schooling and time at ACU so far to experience a strong sense of Community that I believe is unique to Catholic institutions. While still being Christian in faith, I would like to be able to connect at a deeper level with Catholicism and therefore I plan on converting. I see World Youth Day as a chance for me to reaffirm and strengthen my faith, whilst also helping me on a journey towards connecting more closely with Catholic faith."
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Sarah Rose
Bachelor of Nursing,
Melbourne (St. Patrick's)"World Youth Day in Cologne was the turning point in my faith. It was the beginning of so many things for me. It was the beginning of lifelong friendships, my travel bug and, most importantly, my faith journey. I think there comes a time in everyone's faith where you must take ownership over what you believe and WYD was this opportunity for me. I am attending my second WYD in the hope of taking my faith to a deeper level. To take what I know and believe and challenge this view and share it with others. For me my faith is often a very personal journey and WYD is an opportunity to share in this experience with others. The Catholic faith, at its grass roots, is about faith doing action and justice and in attending WYD I hope to share this action in justice with other young people of my faith and values. It is this faith, expressed through action, that helps me live my faith in everyday life. The final Mass is an element I am definitely looking forward to as a pilgrim. It is an opportunity to sit in awe of the size of the young Catholic Church. I look forward to meeting people from other cultures and Australians who share my faith, to connect not because of language but because of faith."
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Clare Fernandez
Bachelor of Nursing,
Melbourne Campus (St. Patrick's)"I think World Youth Day is a religious affair combined with fun and excitement. It's about bringing the youth of the world together in one place, making international relations and in a way finding ourselves and finding God through praise and worship. I'm attending this event because I am Catholic who has swayed slightly from the faith and feel that this could possibly be a chance for me to "renew my faith and find my back" so to speak. And also, I have always wanted to attend WYD and since it will be in Sydney this year, I think I should grab this one in a lifetime opportunity."
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Ellan Millar
Bachelor of Education,
Canberra Campus (Signadou)"World Youth Day makes real the human desire within us all to reach out to each other as we search for meaning within ourselves, the world and life. The atmosphere that is going to be electric with desire and filled with hope and joy. It's going to be an experience that will change everyone who is engaged with it. There is no way that anyone could come away from such a forum without having some impact. I hope that World Youth Day 2008 leaves me with lasting memories which contribute to the individual I'm continuing to develop and become and what I do for the rest of my life in this world."
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Vanessa Forcella
Bachelor of Exercise Science,
Strathfield (Mount Saint Mary)"World Youth Day is an amazing opportunity to reconnect with my faith. Without sounding corny, it definitely serves as a way to feed and reignite the soul. During my busy life, working while trying to keep up with my studies and family commitments, I tend to lose sight of my faith and it tends to be pushed to the background, something that's left to Sunday mass. World Youth Day fuels the passion I have for the faith and serves to focus my mind back on God. I attended the last World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany. I was 18 and it was the first time I had been outside the country so it was more than just experiencing the week of events, it was about exploring another culture and growing through the experience of travel. In terms of World Youth Day itself, I was able to learn so much more about my faith and come to the realisation that the Catholic Church extends far beyond my Parish community or the Sydney Archdiocese. It is worldwide and experienced and practiced by so many people from so many different places and from so many cultural backgrounds. I was able to communicate with people from Brazil and Colombia and Spain without even needing to speak their language because we all knew why we were there and that in itself was all the communication we needed. It definitely brought me closer to my faith and I wasn't ashamed to express that to others when I returned."
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Andrew Profilio
Bachelor of Teaching, Arts & Technology,
Strathfield Campus (Mount St Mary)"I went to Cologne 2005 with my Parish. It was a good experience, the most impressive thing was the sheer size of it all, a crowd of 1.2 million people who all came to see the Pope. I found it easy to make friends in the big food queues, people were singing, talking to total strangers. A completely different experience to everyday life. Having it at home will be less confusing and I expect everyone will be much friendlier than they usually are in Sydney, strangers might actually talk to one another!"
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Casey McLoughlan
Bachelor of Education,
Ballarat (Aquinas)"I think World Youth Day in Sydney is a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate my faith in my own country. I am extremely excited by the large number of young people who will be attending this event. I am fortunate to be attending as a group leader and have a wonderful group of young people from my area attending. I cannot comprehend the size of this event but am extremely excited by the amount of young people attending! My close friend, sister, brother and sister in-law are going to World Youth Day with my Parish. I am looking forward to being able to share this wonderful experience with them. I love showing the DVDs to my Parish group emphasizing that even the aerial shots cannot find the edge of the crowd. The joy shown on people's faces and the dance and colour further excite me for World Youth Day."
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Heather Sheen
Bachelor of Arts,
Brisbane (McAuley at Banyo)"I have always wanted to go to World Youth Day, but there has always been something that has stopped me. So when I was asked to come to this one I jumped at the chance. Really I see it as a fun, interesting and social way to express and live our faith, and it's a journey that I have been looking forward to for a long time."
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Lani Nankervis
Paramedicine / Nursing,
Ballarat Campus (Aquinas)"I'm attending World Youth Day purely because I doubted myself at first, thinking it was not something I could do, then when I couldn't find a reason why it was not for me, I decided I should take a chance and see what I could gain from such an experience. Also, I think this experience could influence me into being a better person and I hope to discover new things about myself and my beliefs along the way. It's also a fantastic opportunity to meet other people from all over the world and share different views."
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Tom Cook
Bachelor of Education (Primary),
Canberra Campus (Signadou)"I have always been a strong Christian believer, and it is just something that has been embedded in us since we where young children. My grandfather was a missionary for the Anglican church, I guess there is all that awe and mystery about the Pope and stuff, so to be at a service that he is running would be an incredible experience, even though the Catholic faith itself doesn't really mean a lot to me. Jesus and God is more where my focus is at, I guess it is faith more than the Catholic religion that interests me, so it would be awesome to be part of it. The opportunity was here on the doorstop being at a Catholic University, we have the opportunity to be part of it in a special way so I just went with it."
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Joseph McPhee
Bachelor of Education (Primary),
Canberra Campus (Signadou)"I think World Youth Day is a good opportunity for the youth and people in Australia to be involved because it won't happen again in our lifetime, so it will be really good for so many people to be gathered together in celebration of youth and faith. Also, for me personally, it will be really good to strengthen my faith and learn a bit about myself and others that will be there. Meeting a lot of people from throughout the world will increase my understanding of Christianity, and I think I will be able to bring a lot back from the experience for myself and for others."
