IcamInternational
8 Sep 2023
A delegation of some 300 Icam students and alumni went to the WYD in Lisbon last July and August. For some, the adventure lasted two weeks, enough time to take the ‘Magis Route’ and experience Experiences, in other words spiritual, social, artistic or ecological missions, which had a profound impact on their stay in Portugal.
WYD is an indescribable experience: 1.5 million people from all cultures come together in one place to celebrate their faith and to spend time talking, reflecting and, of course, celebrating. Travelling to the WYD is also a time to look inward, to explore one’s spirituality and to confront it with people from all over the world, for real mutual enrichment. This moment when Pope Francis manages to obtain the silence of more than a million people at the same time is exceptional,” says Hubert Hirrien, chaplain at the Icam sites in the west of France and accompanier to the Icam delegation. But WYD also means theatre performances, impromptu meetings and a host of festivities. All this with the warm welcome of the Portuguese. It’s a time of incredible fervour”.
Testimony of Camille, 5th year student at Icam, Nantes site
“The World Youth Days (WYD) in Europe were a dream opportunity for me to enter a world where I could meet as many Catholics as possible from all over the world, including the French, because I didn’t know that many of them. It was an opportunity to experience life with young people from all over the world who share a common religion, and to strengthen my faith, which I’ve been nurturing for the last two years. What’s more, it allowed me to discover other aspects of religion that I wasn’t familiar with.
I took part in both weeks of the event, starting with the entire Magis Route. During this first week, I chose to take part in a programme focusing on art and culture in Spain, with around 200 other participants. It was great to be part of a small group made up of Portuguese, Spanish, French and Hungarians. Our days were punctuated by times of prayer and reflection based on Ignatian pedagogy. We took the time to exchange our points of view and it was extremely interesting to hear how everyone approached things, taking into account our cultural differences.
We had many enriching encounters with people from all over the world, which was really the strong point of the Magis experience. We created some very intense bonds and discovered a lot of common ground between us. We had important moments of reflection on our faith, even during the week of the WYD, which enabled us to ask ourselves the right questions and to reflect together on our beliefs, what motivates us and why we are here. We also thought about the impact these experiences could have on our lives.
And I think it was this multiculturalism that had the greatest impact on the participants. For example, we met people from Korea and Singapore, people we wouldn’t have had easy access to if we’d stayed in our usual environment. Exchanges with people from very far away were extremely enriching on a personal and cultural level, and remain unforgettable for me.”
To see the WYD experience through the eyes of an Icam student, click here! Thanks to Louis Soullard for the production.
