Filming WYD Promos with Fr Roger
This June, a good friend of the Institute, Fr. Roger Niedzielski, found himself in need of a handful of young people to produce and star in some promo videos for World Youth Day 2027, where he will lead a group of pilgrims from Edmonton. The interns of Gregory the Great were dispatched to help, and with two days allotted to planning and shooting, it was an invigorating exercise for us all.
We learned many new things about World Youth Day through this experience, tracing its history from its inception in 1984 to the upcoming 2027 pilgrimage in Seoul, South Korea. The material we prepared focused on the themes of the upcoming WYD, especially its slogan: "Take Courage!" The phrase comes from John 16:33, at the Last Supper, in which Christ says, "In this world you will have trouble. But take courage! I have overcome the world."
It is a great message of hope, a simple reminder that sin and death have no power over Jesus, or those he keeps under his wing. The pilgrimage also has five patron saints, about whom we learned while recording videos about their lives and witness.
After sketching our plans, we set out with Fr. Roger to various locations in Edmonton to film. We were blessed to experience the beauty of Villa Vianney, the seminary's retirement home for priests; the inner chapel of St. Joseph's Basilica, with its lovely stained glass and icon of the Worker, made another beautiful filming location, where Fr. Roger shared with us the industrious life of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini; we travelled to St. Jung Ha Sang Parish, Edmonton's Korean Catholic parish, to speak about the inspiring witness of the Korean Martyrs.
Along the way, we interns benefited greatly from Fr. Roger's enthusiasm and wisdom. He taught us how to say the pilgrimage's slogan, "Take Courage," in Korean. (It's pronounced, "yong-gi-reul neo-ra!"—we filmed a video about that, as well.) The call to be courageous in expressing our faith is universal and necessary. It is also filled with hope—as the World Youth Day website says, we proclaim the message "not [with] a passive optimism, but a bold confidence grounded in the living presence of Christ."
The World Youth Day website, www.wydseoul.org, offers many more resources to explore, including biographies and invocations of the pilgrimage's patron saints, explanations of the theme and the chosen symbols, and avenues for you to get involved through participation, prayer, and support. You can also follow the Archdiocese of Edmonton's own WYD social media, where you will see these videos and more about WYD Seoul 2027.
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