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ARRIVAL OF 25,000 WORLD YOUTH DAY VOLUNTEERS
VATICAN CITY, AUG 8, 2000 (VIS) - The first of a total of 25,000 World Youth Day volunteers
have begun to arrive in Rome. On Saturday August 12, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar
general for the diocese of Rome, will celebrate Mass for the volunteers in St. Peter's Square.
Last Sunday before praying the angelus, the Pope indicated that many young people were already on
their way to Rome: "Families, parishes, institutes and schools of the eternal city have mobilized to
welcome them, and I too" he announced, "will have the joy of accommodating some of them at
Castelgandolfo." Indeed, Villa Barberini, which lies near the apostolic palace of Castelgandolfo, will
house 15 young persons; three each from America, Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania.
The volunteers come from 40 countries on all continents, though the majority are Italians. Their task is
to provide logistical support and to welcome all the young people who will participate in World Youth
Day. They will allocate lodgings and refreshment points, direct coaches to the various welcome sites
and coordinate transport. A number of volunteers will provide assistance to the authorities, to ecclesial
personages, to participants in the international youth forum (August 12-15), to journalists and to the
disabled.
Volunteers will also be involved in other activities, described as "events" in a communique from the
Italian Committee for World Youth Day. These include all support services (verification and control of
access points, distribution of material, orientation of the flow of pilgrims) at the main events of World
Youth Day, such as the opening ceremony of August 15, the Jubilee pilgrimage, the 'Via Crucis' and
the closing celebrations at Rome's Tor Vergata University.
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