In the Church, there is room for everyone

By Father Joshua Nevitt

Editor’s Note: Father Joshua Nevitt, associate director of vocations, was among those from the Dioceses of Camden and Trenton who traveled together to Portugal on Aug. 1-6 for World Youth Day. Here, Father Nevitt reflects on his thoughts while sitting in Lisbon’s Tejo Park the evening of Aug. 5.

A longstanding World Youth Day tradition is for pilgrims to walk to a field outside the host city on Saturday for an overnight prayer vigil, followed Sunday morning by Mass with the pope. Our group of pilgrims from the Trenton and Camden Dioceses first found a place in the dirt field to camp, then sought ways to stay cool in the 100 degree heat.

As some took naps and others huddled for shade under trash cans, I sat quietly and looked out over a crowd that was quickly growing to 1.5 million people. Here, I thought, is what it means to say the Church is universal. Before me stood young women and men from every country of the world, and I was moved to think how each individual is unique, unrepeatable, each with his or her own story of faith, each made in the image and likeness of God.  

There, sitting on the dusty ground, I saw incarnate Pope Francis’ words earlier in the week at the World Youth Day welcoming ceremony: “[In the Church] there is room for everyone … TODOS! TODOS! TODOS! [EVERYONE! EVERYONE! EVERYONE!]” 

On Friday of that week, I ran into my former professor, Father Thomas Michelet, OP, a French Dominican who teaches at the Angelicum in Rome. I asked him what he thought of the event. He replied, “It’s wonderful. Only the Church could bring so many people together like this.”

Thinking of the European dedication to soccer, I joked, “I don’t know. What about the World Cup? Couldn’t that bring everyone together?”

My former professor gave me a look that made me think I should have paid more attention in his classes. “NO!” he corrected me. “In soccer, everyone has their own teams. They are divided. Here, we are all on the same team.”  

We are all on the same team. I’ll remember that for the next exam. 

Learning that all of us are part of the same team, despite our various cultural backgrounds, was an experience shared by all the pilgrims from our group. Walking through the streets, our American flags were greeted with chants of “America!” and “USA! USA!” We cheered back, “Italia!” “¡España!” “Australia!” or “Colombia!” Items from each country were traded. But more importantly, encounters of culture and faith were shared. 

Michael Leason and Vincent Asselta, seminarians for the Camden Diocese, shared a moment of encounter with a group of German pilgrims. Entering the welcome ceremony, Johanna from Germany spotted the yellow T-shirts with the word “SEMINARIAN” printed on the back. Johanna encouraged the young men in their commitment to discerning the priesthood and shared her own experiences as a Catholic in Germany. She also asked about American culture.

“Her interest in American pop culture surprised me,” Leason reflected. “It was an occasion of sharing that really brings to light the universality of the Church.” 

At the Stations of the Cross on Friday evening, some of our group spotted an Iraqi flag. These young Iraqi Catholics told of the persecution they faced in Iraq for their faith. Persecution led them to flee their home country for Europe. They told Father Ed Friel, pastor of Mary, Queen of All Saints in Pennsauken, that they wanted American youth to know how fortunate they are to be able to practice their faith.

“Please don’t take this opportunity for granted,” they said.  

On that Saturday evening in the park, Stefanie Geslak from Saint Catharine Parish, Holmdel, Diocese of Trenton, sat down next to me. We talked about why we came to World Youth Day. Stefanie explained that she had traveled there with members of her parish young adult group, Anna and Mary Briamonte and Rob Pogoda.

“We want World Youth Day to help us bring more young people into our parish,” she said.

That is a mission for all Catholics, young and young at heart, to proclaim: In the Church, there is room for everyone.