Ten U.S. bishops to give catechesis at WYD

Washington D.C., Aug 4, 2005 / 22:00 pm

Ten U.S. bishops have been scheduled to give catechetical sessions to young pilgrims at World Youth Day in Cologne in mid-August.

They include: Cardinal Francis George of Chicago; Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles; Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, of Washington; Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee, Archbishop Stefan Soroka of Philadelphia for Ukrainians; Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, Ohio; Bishop Blase Cupich of Rapid City, South Dakota; Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York; and Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto of Orange, California.

Cardinal Francis Stafford, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary and former head of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, will also give a catechesis.

The catechetical sessions are arranged by language groups and can vary in size from a few hundred to over 15,000 participants. They will take place in various venues in the cities of Dusseldorf, Cologne and Bonn. The sessions include a teaching by the bishop, interaction between the bishop and the youth, music and liturgy.

Among those scheduled to address groups from the United States are Cardinal George Pell (Australia), Cardinal Francis Arinze (Vatican), Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, OFM (South Africa), and Bishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ (Canada).