Youth Toward Assisi - A Pictorial Retrospective

The Franciscan message continues to touch young men and women of all cultures. With beliefs such as living life according to the Gospel, respect for all of creation, prayer, and a sense of community where human beings help one another as best they can, it is not surprising that what Francis of Assisi began in the 13th century has become a way of life with universal appeal. All of this was very apparent at the recent Youth Toward Assisi Pilgrimage in Assisi, Italy - the birthplace of Francis. Around 1,000 pilgrims from every corner of the planet visited Assisi for a week of prayer, community, and pilgrimages to holy places.

Some of the pilgrimage destinations included the Carceri (just up the hill from Assisi) where Francis spent a lot of time in prayer:

Praying in a group on the way to the Carceri

The pilgrimage to the Carceri on a hot August day

The pilgrims celebrated Mass every day and oftentimes in the beautiful out of doors.

Fonte Colombo - the place where Francis wrote his Rule

The Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual - Friar Marco Tasca (center) -

officiated the pilgrimage's closing Mass

Friar Marco also spent time with the pilgrims discussing young adult and youth ministry in the Church:

Friar Marco Tasca (center)

And as was pointed out above, the pilgrims at Youth Toward Assisi came from a variety of nations:

Belarus

Burkina Faso

Chile

Croatia

Mexico

India

Korea

United States and Canada

Russia