Mini World Youth Day 2020

 

The 2017 Mini World Youth Day saw the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) and the archdiocese of Durban end up with a shortfall of over R5 million—which must be avoided this year, according to the SACBC youth chaplain.

Fr Mthembeni Dlamini CMM pointed out that the R5 million shortfall translates to over R1500 per participant in Durban. It was this consideration which caused delays in the approval for this year’s Mini World Youth Day (MWYD) In Pretoria.

“We have to take responsibility and own this pilgrimage. MWYD is preparation for bigger events, besides preparing to attend World Youth Day (WYD) and evangelising our young people,” Fr Dlamini said. “The world is looking for a future host of WYD in Africa.”

Two packages are now available for the youth to purchase to attend MWYD in the archdiocese of Pretoria from December 9-13.

The early bird package (5% discount) is valid from March 1 to June 30. To qualify, payment will need to be deposited within this period.

Groups have 14 days to pay a 50% deposit after uploading their lists and should pay the full amount before June 30.

Full registration costs R2850. Full registration plus Days in Parishes is R3040.

The late registration package is valid from July 1 to August 31. To qualify, payment needs to be deposited within this period, and failure to do so will see the registration cancelled and the deposit forfeited.

The group has 14 days to pay the 50% deposit after uploading its lists and should pay the full amount before August 31.

Full registration costs R3000. Full registration plus Days in Parishes is R3200.

Both packages include the hiring of venues and paying suppliers, lunch from December 9 to breakfast on December 13, transport during the days of MWYD to accommodation, catechetical parishes and the main venue, which is the Tshwane Events Centre, and accommodation from December 9-13.

Fr Dlamini recommended that to save on costs and fund their trip, participants might avoid hiring a bus if they have access to public buses.

He also suggested that they take the early bird package and use the money saved for transport.

In terms of funding for their trip, he suggested that groups write to their municipality or businesses for sponsorship for either their transport or the pilgrimage, as well as requesting sponsorship from parishioners or individuals in their community.

Approaching sodalities, movements and associations are also avenues they should try, as well as arranging fundraising activities.

Registration is now open, and the registration link, which can be found on the MWYD site and will be emailed to the dioceses, is meant for group leaders to begin to register their groups. The registration will allow groups of 15 or 25 or 50 participants. The group leader is required to manage the registration on behalf of the group.

Groups are either from parishes, deaneries, dioceses, associations, sodalities, or movements. Correct information is required and the registration team will verify the authenticity of the information submitted before a group leader is approved to continue with the registration process.

A group leader cannot register two or more groups under his or her name, as the system will charge a full fee each time they add their name to a group or repeat a name. This is meant to avoid having one person leading a large group and losing control of it.

Groups of 15 must be accompanied by at least two responsible adults. Groups of 25 must have at least three responsible adults. Groups of 50 must have at least five responsible adults.

“The time between September and November will be reserved for spiritual preparation. The issue of having our young people attending large gatherings unprepared has been raised on many platforms. The Mini World Youth Day is a pilgrimage and some level of spiritual preparedness is required,” Fr Dlamini said.