WYD Rio: weather forces change of venue for Sat, Sun events

July 26, 2013: So the rain finally had its way. It even succeeded in changing the best-laid plans of Popes and men. The Campus Fidei at Guaratiba, originally scheduled to host both the Youth Vigil and the closing Youth Day Mass, is now officially out of bounds.

What until last week was a bucolic, grass-covered, tree-lined park worthy of welcoming any pope, currently looks more like a Florida swamp. Mud and sludge alternates with improvised lakes and marshes – the result of days and nights of incessant rainfall.

The solution?

Well, there is only one. At such short notice, the only alternative is to concentrate everything at Copacabana: the stage is already there, the sound and illumination systems are in place, the facilities and utilities were already tried and tested during the opening youth day Mass on Tuesday.

The location change will even make it easier for the young people themselves, many of whom are already in the area of Copacabana beach. Not to mention the journalists: the international press centre is not even 100 metres away. Pity that security has placed us under “lock-down” – meaning that no one enters or leaves the centre from three hours before the Pope’s arrival until after he leaves. So much for being “on-the-spot”…SPL