Chinese Catholic youth need money to attend World Youth Day in in Madrid

(May 25, 2011) A group of 15 young Chinese Catholics say they would like to participate in World Youth Day scheduled for 16-21 August in Madrid, Spain, but lack the means to do so. Although they work and have saved some money, they cannot sustain the cost of travel. For this reason, they would like to ask other young people around the world for help. AsiaNews received the appeal on Monday, a day before the World Day of Prayer for China, which Pope Benedict XVI has promoted to strengthen the faith and the unity of Chinese Catholics with the universal Church. The Parish priest of these young Chinese Catholics said that these young people live their faith in a very closed environment. Meeting other young people who share their spirit, as well as seeing the Pope, would be a fundamental experience of communion with the universal Church. “Here in China, we do not even have a church to meet,” said the priest, whose name has been withheld for security reasons. “We only have a few places to pray in different parts of the city, which has four million people. Despite it, we have many faithful and many conversions each year. Owing to the difficult economic situation (in this part of China,) our people are materially poor, but are rich in faith and hope,” he added. The priest said they need another 10,000 Euros to cover everything. AsiaNews has decided to heed their appeal, by making it available to all its readers.