Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee
 

I am told there are certain foreign, vintage wines that don't travel well. They seem to lose their pizzazz in the transportation from one country to the other. I think that I may have some of that foreign, vintage wine in my blood. After a couple of delays at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and Saint John Paul II's International Airport in Warsaw, we finally made it to Kraków, Poland – 18 hours after we started, tired and a bit weary.
 
I knew it was going to be a good visit when a volunteer approached me. She was not Polish, but Italian. Camille was her name, and she was from Milan, Italy. When I introduced myself as the Archbishop of Milwaukee, she smiled and said that she had spent one month in the city of Milwaukee as an exchange student. Here, I traveled thousands of miles to a foreign country, and immediately have a point of connection with my home.  
 
The volunteers were from all over the globe. Many have attended World Youth Day prior, and now return to assist others. Their lives have been changed by their experience as World Youth Day participants.  
 
One of the immediate impacts of World Youth Day is the experience of globalization. The Catholic Church has a representation in every part of the world. These volunteers are the young people of the world who are in love with the Church and their faith. They carry the stories of their various countries, and are here to celebrate their faith. They are responding to the call of the shepherd, Pope Francis.
 
This is a special World Youth Day because it is in the home country of Karol Wojtyła, where he was called to the priesthood, ordained a bishop and appointed Archbishop of Kraków. He was the primary organizer who established World Youth Day, despite the opposition from those religious leaders on his staff, who had little confidence in the youth of that day. They felt that a call to the world's youth – to gather together – would be met with indifference. Pope John Paul II had a great affection for the young. He knew of their power, their enthusiasm and their vision. He relied upon their power to make a difference in the Church and in our world.
 
So today, thousands upon thousands return to proclaim their belief and honor a pope who challenged them to make a difference, to live in the world for Jesus and his Church and listen to the words of his successor, Pope Francis.  
 
We all share one universal call to holiness. Pope John Paul II is a saint declared by the Church. As we follow his call together in the name of the Lord's Church and celebrate Jesus, let us follow Saint John Paul II toward our heavenly home as we LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
 

Note: This blog originally appeared as the July 26, 2016 "Love One Another" email sent to Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki. If you are interested in signing up for these email messages, please click here.