HONG KONG (SE): The Diocesan Youth Day 2021 [DYD] is scheduled for October 10 with the theme, WOW—an acronym for “Wake up, Observe, Witness.” This year’s event is designed to encourage participants to travel around Hong Kong in a checkpoint-style game searching for the meaning of the World Youth Day message.
WOW is in line with the theme chosen by Pope Francis for diocesan level celebrations of the World Youth Day in 2021: “Stand up! I appoint you as witnesses of what you have seen” (Acts 26:16).
During the formation activity for volunteers held in April, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing explained the theme of the diocesan celebration and encouraged young people to “wake up” and “witness” by reflecting on their own experiences, seeing how God has journeyed with them and bravely facing challenges posed in daily life.
Holly Mok Ching-yee, executive secretary of the Diocesan Youth Commission, said it would be challenging to celebrate the event in the shadow of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic given that it was held online last year.
“It has been a long time since they [young people] gathered for the event and will be a good chance to celebrate their identity as young people. We hope they can delve deeply into the message of World Youth Day on that day,” she said.
The morning celebration this year features a checkpoint programme—like a series of short pilgrimages combined with sharing sessions and games. Participants will be assigned to go to two to three places on a list and will receive a score after the visits.
The checkpoints are provided by over 20 organising partners, including parishes, diocesan organisations and other communities which will talk about how their works are related to the theme of World Youth Day this year. Participants will also be invited to do some small tasks to earn more points in this contest.
‘It has been a long time since they [young people] gathered for the event and will be a good chance to celebrate their identity as young people. We hope they can delve deeply into the message of World Youth Day on that day’
Holly Mok Ching-yee
Offering the possibility of journeying together and experiencing fraternity, pilgrimage is one of the elements recommended for the local celebrations as stipulated in the Pastoral Guideline for the Celebration of World Youth Day in Particular Churches, issued by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, on May 18.
Organisations supporting the game include the Hong Kong Catholic Commission for Labour Affairs; the Diocesan Audio Visual Centre; Holy Cross Church, Shau Kei Wan; Rosary Church, Tsim Sha Tsui; and others.
In June, there was a briefing session which encouraged parishes and organisations to summarise their services, experiences and history to share them on that day with the young people.
A total of 160 people from parishes and other communities signed up for the activity before the August 31 deadline.
With the start of the school year in September, the commission is welcoming students to register on behalf of their schools through its Facebook page. However, due to social distancing restrictions, the programme will not accept more than 200 participants who will be divided into small groups on the day.
The afternoon session covers an exhibition, spiritual talks and performances. DYD 2021 will conclude with a thanksgiving Mass to be celebrated by Bishop Ha.
Volunteers from parishes will also record the event and make the videos available on social media platforms. To equip them with the necessary skills, a workshop on video-editing was offered by the Boiling Point on July 10, the youth online platform supported by the Diocesan Audio-Visual Centre and the Diocesan Youth Commission.
Terry Leung Chui-shan, youth pastoral officer of the commission, said the workshop taught the use of simple video-editing apps on smartphones, which are accessible to most people and drew a favourable response from the 20 participants. She observed that young people were really interested in telling a story through online videos, which can be a tool for evangelising.
While World Youth Day has been running since 1986, the Diocese of Hong Kong has been organising its Diocesan Youth Day since 2007.
