“Bring a little Brooklyn attitude over there,” Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz recently told teens from St. Patrick’s parish, Bay Ridge, who are preparing to go to World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, this summer.

Youth will discover an international festival of faith, friendship and hope when they journey Down Under for the 23rd World Youth Day (WYD), July 15 - 20. This year’s theme is “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

Heading Down Under: Fifteen high schoolers and five college students from St. Patrick’s, Bay Ridge, are busy preparing for their pilgrimage to Sydney, Australia, where they will take part in the 23rd World Youth Day festivities in mid-July. Father John Maduri, right, is organizing St. Pat’s group.

Teens will give witness to their faith while experiencing the way of life and culture of Australia. Highlights of the weeklong event will include spirited prayer services, catechesis, concerts and an outdoor Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

Established by Pope John Paul II in 1986 as an event to reach out to the world’s youth, WYD draws hundreds of thousands of 16 - 30 year olds from every ethnicity, culture and continent across the globe.

According to the most recent estimates on the official WYD2008 website, organizers anticipate over 225,000 people in Sydney, including about 120 young people and chaperones from Brooklyn and Queens.

Pinned in Brooklyn

The Beep dropped in to see some of those pilgrims as they wrapped up a faith formation meeting in St. Pat’s rectory last month. He wished them well and presented them with “Brooklyn” pins to trade with international peers.

“As you go and meet other young people, I hope you enjoy giving these out as much as I enjoy being here to give these to you,” he said.

Father John Maduri, parochial vicar, is organizing St. Pat’s delegation, which includes 15 high schoolers and five college students, all of whom are involved in parish ministries, he noted.

Journeying with him from the parish will be Father Mark Simmons, parochial vicar, and three chaperones, Linda Gallagher, Joe Longo and Romeo Petric, whose son Frank, a senior at Xaverian H.S., is also attending.

“I am really looking forward to being in the presence of the pope and meeting all these people from various cultural backgrounds who all have the same ideals,” said Gallagher.

While she’s “delighted and honored” to be a chaperone, she’s asked teens to think of her more as a “big sister and friend,” someone they can trust.

That won’t be difficult since most pilgrims and their families already know this 33-year-old alumna of St. Anselm’s School and Bishop Kearney H.S., who is a past coach of girls’ softball and basketball at St. Pat’s, her parish for the last six years. By day, she’s a producer for visual effects on commercials and movies for the production company RhinoFX.

In preparation for the “huge responsibility” of watching over these young people, Gallagher is taking a course in first aid, just in case.

Veteran WYD Travelers

WYD will be a new experience for most of this crew, except chaperone Joe Longo, and college student Peter O’Rourke, both of whom went to the 20th WYD in Cologne, Germany, in 2005.

Several pilgrims have older siblings who have been to previous WYDs.

Sarah Slattery, a Hunter College freshman, heard amazing things about Cologne from her sister Elissa.

“My sister had a powerful experience,” Sarah said, adding that she too hopes to be “spiritually enriched. I think this may be life-changing for me.”

Fontbonne Hall Academy junior Kate Losquadro was too young to go to Cologne with her brother Thomas. Three years later, her time has come. She’s excited to be going with several Fontbonne schoolmates, including Kelley Ryan and Ashley Winn.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Winn said. “When else will we get to have Mass with the pope?”

Peter Finnen was 12 when his brother Patrick attended a WYD Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in Toronto, Canada, in 2002.

“The first time I ever heard about World Youth Day was when my brother went,” said Peter, a senior at Xaverian, who also works in the parish rectory. “He said what an exciting experience it was. It’s not like anything he’s ever seen before.”

Peter has never left the country but he’s ready to get closer to God “on the other side of the world.” He’s most anxious to feel the prayerful atmosphere during the overnight vigil at Randwick Racecourse and “see the pope come the next morning.”

These and other young people interested in making this holy journey signed up at St. Pat’s last June. In the fall, the group began meeting once monthly to embark on a process of spiritual preparation.

Gospel and Today’s Culture

Fathers Maduri and Simmons, along with Nancy Lussier, religious education director, have introduced youth to Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body and brought them to Catholic Underground to see how the Gospel lives in conversation with today’s culture. Most recently, they’ve used Scripture to examine the person of Jesus and the baptismal call to evangelization.

Leaders challenge teens to actively think about and question the faith that’s been passed down to them so the youth can more fully understand, appreciate and take ownership of their beliefs.

Next weekend, teens will have an occasion for a personal encounter with Christ at a Youth 2000 Prayer Festival, April 11 - 13, at their parish.

There are much more than spiritual preparations going on in anticipation of this journey. Father Maduri says teens and their parents are very cooperative with addressing temporal details, including passports, room assignments and permission papers. He’s also grateful to parishioners for their support.

Costs and Fundraising

Pilgrims traveling with the official diocesan contingent are paying about $4,375 each, including over $2,100 for round trip airfare. St. Pat’s youth are responsible for $1,500 out of pocket, about one-third of the total, and they’re relying on fundraising events to cover the remaining costs.

The parish already generated a substantial sum by hosting two wrestling matches featuring the East Coast Professional Wrestling Association last year. A third match is set for May 17. Parishioners have also contributed to raffles and collections. Future raffles, car washes and other fundraisers are planned. Local businesses have pledged their assistance as well.

Thus far, over $40,000 has been raised and youth are more than halfway to their $70,000 goal.

“Parishioners here have been extremely generous and I believe they’ll come through and help us raise the rest,” Father Maduri said.