VANCOUVER—Young adults took their faith outdoors as they celebrated World Youth Day in Cathedral Square in downtown Vancouver.

“It is heartwarming and hopeful to see just how alive the young people of the Archdiocese of Vancouver are, men and women after the Lord’s own heart,” said Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB.

Young people knelt on the pavement in Vancouver drizzle to meditate on the Stations of the Cross March 28. About 150 participants then joined an anticipated Palm Sunday Mass and procession, dinner, and a concert in Holy Rosary Cathedral.

Archbishop Miller urged the young people to take up four challenges: develop a personal relationship with Jesus, challenge the status quo, evangelize, and be joyful.

This was the 30th World Youth Day, which has been celebrated internationally 12 times. WYD is also celebrated in many dioceses locally in the years when no international celebration is called. In recent years the Vancouver archdiocese has not celebrated it, but has held many other gatherings for youth and young adults.

“Since 1985, when St. John Paul II instituted WYD, it was celebrated locally first in Rome,” said Gerard Garcia, archdiocesan consultant for young adult ministry. “It’s supposed to be celebrated in the local church.”

The next international WYD will be held in Krakow, Poland, at the end of July 2016.

Krzysztof Olendzki, Poland’s Consul General in Vancouver, encouraged the young adults to make the trek to Pope John Paul II’s homeland.

“When I was participating in World Youth Day, the words of John Paul II were inspiring me just to do something more: ‘Wymagajcie od siebie nawet gdyby inni od was nie wymagali’” (Be demanding of yourself even if no one demands anything of you).

“That’s the message: if one is demanding of himself, he will be a good citizen, he will be a good worker, he will be a good father and a good husband.”

Grace Yeung, a St. Francis Xavier parishioner, first attended WYD in Madrid in 2011. She hopes to fly to Krakow next year.

“I just want to experience that even though we’re gathered around all these other people who don’t speak the same language as us, we all share that same faith.”

Julie Ngo and Dana Dionio, members of St. Mary’s Parish in Vancouver, said they were looking forward to living out of backpacks and sleeping on church floors.

“We are privileged, and we take it for granted sometimes,” said Ngo. “It’s a great opportunity to see what it is to live without a bed, or showers.”

Dionio added she hopes to “grow in a deeper relationship with the Lord,” and “see the youth from all over the world so active in their faith.”