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Young people at World Meeting: 'We're all family'

Jack Brosius was in a hurry. The 13-year-old from Limerick was on his way to the World Meeting of Families, where he found inspiration - and maybe, after spending time shooting hoops with priest trainees in a cavernous hall at the Convention Center, even a vocation.

Sisters with the Franciscans of the Renewal, from New York City, pose for a group photo while attending the World Meeting of Families at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. (Ed Hille/Staff Photographer)
Sisters with the Franciscans of the Renewal, from New York City, pose for a group photo while attending the World Meeting of Families at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. (Ed Hille/Staff Photographer)Read more

Jack Brosius was in a hurry.

The 13-year-old from Limerick was on his way to the World Meeting of Families, where he found inspiration - and maybe, after spending time shooting hoops with priest trainees in a cavernous hall at the Convention Center, even a vocation.

"I might want to be a seminarian," said Jack, one of thousands of youths who roamed the center. "I like hearing about how to let God direct you in the right way."

(Jack's mom, Gretchen, smiled. "It's one of the options," she said.)

Crowds swelled Thursday for the third day of the World Meeting of Families. And for many of the young attendees, the lead-up to Pope Francis' visit was especially exciting.

Young people danced with nuns and listened to priests-in-training rap ("Loving God is not a gimmick / Our church is not a gimmick") at the Youth Congress. They made pope puppets, stuffed care packages for the needy, and built forts out of foam blocks, their laughter, applause, and conversations filling the room with a joyous hum.

It was a time of growth and expanding horizons, they said.

"I'm meeting people from around the world, and I'm learning a lot of new things about God," said Ana Healy, a 13-year-old from Ontario.

She feels especially moved by this pope, she said.

"He likes children and families. And he's actually coming here," she said, eyes widening.

Joy Addo, a 12-year-old from Egg Harbor Township, N.J., said she took away an important message.

"Children can be active in the church," she said. "Now is the time for us to start.

Over a cheesesteak lunch, a group of Canadian members of Singles for Christ - the youth arm of Couples for Christ - said they made the trek to Philadelphia to see the pope, certainly, but also to generally grow in a faith that sustains them.

"It almost feels like Pope Francis is the icing on the cake," said Vince Licerio, 25, a chef in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"Here, it feels like we're all family."

His friend Ronn Ponce, 27, another retail worker from Vancouver, said the spirit of the World Meeting of Families was about "renewing our Catholic faith, and doing the things that Pope Francis talks about - helping the poor, focusing on the family."

Nick and Michelle Cooper, 23-year-old newlyweds from just outside Fort Wayne, Ind., arrived at the World Meeting on Thursday to hear wisdom from church leaders and fellow Roman Catholics.

"It's exciting - the universality of the Catholic Church, the perspectives from everywhere," said Michelle Cooper.

Michelle's brother Ben Landrigan, 19, is a seminarian who "loves the diversity" of his fellow pilgrims, Landrigan said, looking around him to survey a convention hall filled with people speaking different languages, sporting flags from Mexico, Portugal, and Honduras.

"I came," Landrigan said, "to hear 2,000 years of wisdom."

kgraham@phillynews.com

215-854-5146@newskag

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