TakingITGlobal - Panorama

Published on: Aug 19, 2002

Topic:

Type: Opinions

https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=520

So World Youth Day has come and gone from our beloved city of Toronto. During that exciting week of never-ending fun, we got to witness the Pope performing Mass and extolling the virtues of Canada and Toronto. We had the privilege of welcoming several hormone-driven, Church-loving, and financially-willing young pilgrims who tried as hard as they could to make their trip a kind of spiritual tourist party. And perhaps the most important to us, the attention-starved Canucks that we be, we were able to enjoy press coverage from an international media as story-hungry journalists held Internet debates and telephone polls to assess how much people really knew (or cared) about the Pope’s health (believe me, I was in Paris at the time, the unfortunate victim of CNN International along with several French TV giants). Big Deal. Whoopee. Take out the telephone, Charlie, cause your cousins will want to hear about this one.
The sad part is that no non-Catholic person ever really cared about World Youth Day. The happy part is that there was nothing worth caring for that we non-caring people missed. The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church, not the world, so why would any non-Catholic person give two hoots about where he came and went. And the poor journalists that have no war stories in the Middle East to cover, no hunger riots in Africa to shake their heads at, no celebrity divorces/marriages/courtships/babies/rehab scandals to rant and rave over were compelled to focus on the Pope’s health and how he walked and how he talked and the exact degree to which he slurred his speech. Not focusing on his message, oh no that whistles straight over most of their heads. Catholic people account for just 17.4% of the world’s population… so what about the rest of us? It boggles the mind how 82.6% of the World is somehow left out in World Youth Day. And we mustn’t forget about the Youths, the ones just dying to declare their undying love for the Catholic Church. Come on, do you really believe that they came all the way here to be all saintly and holy? Can you say par-tay?
It is highly probable that this whole extravaganza was nothing more than a publicity party for the Catholic Church, an institution well known for controlling world leaders in the past (and perhaps the present). World Youth Day was a waste of time, a waste of effort, a waste of money and worst of all, it was a waste of a terribly nice name. Think about it….it wasn’t even a Day, let alone a Day of World Youth. Compare the farce we all had the misfortune of sitting through to what World Youth Day could have been. A day (or a week) where the youths representing the entire world could gather and discuss issues affecting their nations. A day where youth could be in charge, where they could help shape the world that will soon become theirs to own and maintain. Instead, we are treated to a disappointing publicity stunt by a hurting institution as it tries in vain to regain its lost might. A great pity indeed.

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by Rajat Suri
Published on: Aug 19, 2002
Topic:
Type: Opinions
https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=520


So World Youth Day has come and gone from our beloved city of Toronto. During that exciting week of never-ending fun, we got to witness the Pope performing Mass and extolling the virtues of Canada and Toronto. We had the privilege of welcoming several hormone-driven, Church-loving, and financially-willing young pilgrims who tried as hard as they could to make their trip a kind of spiritual tourist party. And perhaps the most important to us, the attention-starved Canucks that we be, we were able to enjoy press coverage from an international media as story-hungry journalists held Internet debates and telephone polls to assess how much people really knew (or cared) about the Pope’s health (believe me, I was in Paris at the time, the unfortunate victim of CNN International along with several French TV giants). Big Deal. Whoopee. Take out the telephone, Charlie, cause your cousins will want to hear about this one. The sad part is that no non-Catholic person ever really cared about World Youth Day. The happy part is that there was nothing worth caring for that we non-caring people missed. The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church, not the world, so why would any non-Catholic person give two hoots about where he came and went. And the poor journalists that have no war stories in the Middle East to cover, no hunger riots in Africa to shake their heads at, no celebrity divorces/marriages/courtships/babies/rehab scandals to rant and rave over were compelled to focus on the Pope’s health and how he walked and how he talked and the exact degree to which he slurred his speech. Not focusing on his message, oh no that whistles straight over most of their heads. Catholic people account for just 17.4% of the world’s population… so what about the rest of us? It boggles the mind how 82.6% of the World is somehow left out in World Youth Day. And we mustn’t forget about the Youths, the ones just dying to declare their undying love for the Catholic Church. Come on, do you really believe that they came all the way here to be all saintly and holy? Can you say par-tay? It is highly probable that this whole extravaganza was nothing more than a publicity party for the Catholic Church, an institution well known for controlling world leaders in the past (and perhaps the present). World Youth Day was a waste of time, a waste of effort, a waste of money and worst of all, it was a waste of a terribly nice name. Think about it….it wasn’t even a Day, let alone a Day of World Youth. Compare the farce we all had the misfortune of sitting through to what World Youth Day could have been. A day (or a week) where the youths representing the entire world could gather and discuss issues affecting their nations. A day where youth could be in charge, where they could help shape the world that will soon become theirs to own and maintain. Instead, we are treated to a disappointing publicity stunt by a hurting institution as it tries in vain to regain its lost might. A great pity indeed. « return.