August 10, 2016 – Excerpted from Put Out Into the Deep, Bishop DiMarzio’s column in The Tablet:

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

I just returned from having attended my sixth World Youth Day. Usually, these special events take place in three-year intervals. The first World Youth Day I attended was Rome 2000 and I have attended each one held since; Toronto, Canada 2002; Cologne, Germany 2005; Sydney, Australia 2008; Madrid, Spain 2011; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2013. Each was a wonderful experience, not only for the young people, but also for the bishops to see the young people expressing their love for Christ and His Church by making difficult sacrifices to attend all of the events.

This year, World Youth Day was in Krakow, Poland, the place where St. John Paul II was archbishop and through whose initiative World Youth Days began. It was a fitting tribute to his memory now as St. John Paul II, and also in this Year of Mercy, inspired in many ways by the revelations of St. Faustina Kowalska whose shrine is just outside the city of Krakow.

Read the full text of the Bishop’s column on The Tablet website.