25 años de las Jornadas Mundiales de la Juventud y 25 historias personales, en el libro “Generación JMJ”
25 years of the conference World Youth Day and 25 personal stories, in the book "WYD Generation".
Ana Larraondo affirms at the University of Navarra that "the testimonies of this work reveal the existence of an authentic revolution within the Church".
The University of Navarra hosted today the presentation of the book WYD Generation: 25 years of WYD-25 personal stories. workshop The book, published by Cobel on the occasion of the XXVI World Youth Day, which will take place in August in Madrid, gathers 25 stories from 21 countries about people who have changed their lives as a result of having participated in a WYD.
"They are testimonies that reveal the existence of an authentic revolution within the Church," said Ana Larraondo, author of this work together with her sister Cristina.
A Dutch married couple, a Japanese priest, an American student, a Spanish contemplative nun, a politician from Mali, a British seminarian, an Indonesian executive, a journalist from Togo... "These are first-person accounts that reflect emotional stories, full of courage, tenderness and fascination," explained Ana Larraondo. This book, the only one published so far about WYD 2011, concludes with a testimony by Antonio María Rouco Varela, Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid.
During the presentation, the author assured that all the stories are equally authentic and exciting; they are personal experiences that cannot be compared: "I suppose that there will be people who are touched by the testimony of a young woman who decides to enter a cloistered convent and others who are moved by the stories of love that also emerge at WYD. For a European Christian, for example, the stories from Japan and Russia can have a greater impact, because of the circumstances of minority and difficulty in the internship of faith".
According to him, the idea was born to make known to those who have not participated in any WYD "the universality of this impressive and unique concentration of young people that has been taking place, for 25 years, all over the world with the Pope". In his opinion, it is possible to speak of "a generation of young Christians who have participated in WYD and have changed their lives.
Unique event
In this sense, Ana Larraondo encouraged university students to participate in this "unique event", in which they will be able to enjoy more than 300 activities. "A show that no one can miss," she added. Finally, she referred to the importance of WYD 2011 for Spain. "It will show another image of our country. It is an opportunity to show our cultural tradition and to meet people from the five continents".
After the presentation, a colloquium was held with students on "Journalism between truth and interest", with the participation of journalists Jokin San Julian (Popular TV), Sonsoles Echavarren (Diario de Navarra) and Gabriel de Pablo (La Verdad).