Tongan Catholics to welcome World Youth Day [1]
Monday, May 14, 2007 - 17:32. Updated on Tuesday, May 20, 2014 - 19:20.
The Catholic Church World Youth Day 2007 will be marked in Tonga by youths carrying the World Youth Day Cross and an Icon of Mary throughout Tongatapu during May 22-26.
Father Niukasolo Niukapu the Youth Chaplain of the Catholic Diocese of Tonga said that the 3.8 meters high and 131-pounds cross, and the Icon of Mary will arrive in Tonga on May 22 and they will be "welcomed at Catholic Cathedral at Ma'ufanga with a Tonga traditional ceremony.
"The cross as well as the icon will be carried by catholic youth students on foot throughout Nuku'alofa, then they will move in procession to the western, central and eastern districts. On the way they will stop at 52 stations for prayers and meditations."
There will also be a night of vigil and a holy mass on May 23, expected to be attended by thousands of Catholic worshipers and youths from Tongatapu, Vava'u, Ha'apai and 'Eua.
The cross will leave the Fua'amotu International Airport for Fiji on May 26.
The cross from the St Patrick's Cathedral in the Vatican was handed over by the late Pope John Paul II to the youth, with the mission to take it all over the world with the message of God's love.
The cross has been to most European countries, throughout North and South America, Canada, Africa, Asia and Korea. In the Pacific it has been to the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Kiribati, Samoa and American Samoa.
Father Niukalasolo said that the cross is currently in Tahiti before coming to Tonga and after Tonga it will go to Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, then New Zealand before concluding its pilgrimage in Australia on July 15 for the start World Youth Day celebration, which will be attended by Pope Benedict XVI and about 500,000 pilgrims.