World Youth 8/6

Andrew Williams glanced up from his "Got Jesus?" T-shirt with a look of dawning realization on his face.

"It's just seven days, Ms. Teresa," he said. "Just seven days."

Williams and another local teen, Amanda Myer, have gathered in Teresa LeGrand's office at St. Mary Cathedral on a Wednesday night to talk about a trip that has been in the making for three years.

"It hasn't really hit us yet that we're going," said Williams. "It won't really until I fly into Paris."

Paris, with its Rue du Bac, Montmarte and Notre Dame Cathedral, is just the first leg of the Southeast Missouri youths pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany.

"World Youth Day is a chance for Catholic youths from all around the world to gather in one place with the Pope," said LeGrand, the youth minister at St. Mary's.

LeGrand will go with Williams, Myer and two local college students -- Justin Moore and Anthony Riley -- to the event.

World Youth Day was first held 20 years ago by Pope John Paul II and has taken place every two or three years since. With this spring's election of Benedict XVI, the 2005 event marks the first time WYD has ever been held in the pope's homeland.

The weeklong festivities include educational sessions with cardinals and other religious figures as well as musical performances, exhibits and a Holy Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.

"It sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime trip," said 16-year-old Myer, a student at Jackson High School. "We'll see places we normally only hear about and see the new pope."

They're definitely going on a pilgrimage though, not a vacation, said LeGrand. They'll camp out at night and have room for only the minimum changes of clothes and possessions in their backpacks.

LeGrand, who attended World Youth Day in Canada in 2002, has known about this year's event since that time but only realized two months ago that her youths had an opportunity to go.

They've spent the intermittent time raising money. It costs around $1,500 for each person to attend, including airfare and accommodations. St. Mary's is holding a garage sale in the school cafeteria today to help with the expense.

cmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128