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Chicago, IL (August 13, 2018) – The official World Youth Day (WYD) Cross and Marian Icon will be on display at Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State Street, Chicago on Monday, August 20, 2018. The symbols are being showcased as part of a multi-city tour across the United States with additional stops in Miami, Houston, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles. This visit marks the first time the Marian Icon will be displayed in the United States.

“The World Youth Day symbols are important reminders of the Church’s commitment to listening to and accompanying young people on their spiritual journeys,” said Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago. “We gather around the cross with Mary in a way that reminds us that we are all one family under God. Her presence and motherly love gives strength to those who are suffering and in need, but also models for us how we should treat one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.”

The symbols will be on display for prayer and veneration beginning at 6 a.m. and will remain on display until 8 p.m. There will be Masses at 6 a.m., 12:10 p.m., 5:15 p.m., and a prayer service at 7 p.m. Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of the Diocese of Bridgeport (CT), who is the WYD episcopal liaison for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Most Reverend George Rassas, auxiliary bishop of Chicago, and Very Reverend Gregory Sakowicz, rector of Holy Name Cathedral, will concelebrate the 5:15 p.m. Mass. Bishop Caggiano will preside over the 7 p.m. prayer service. Between services, young adults and other visitors can gather for food and music in the cathedral’s courtyard from 12:30 – 5:15 p.m. Young adults can also gather for a post-prayer service social beginning at 8:15 p.m.

The WYD cross has been displayed around the globe since 1984, when St. John Paul II gave it to young people. It has been part of every WYD celebration beginning with the first official WYD event in Rome in 1986. The 12-foot, bare wooden cross has been brought to prisons, hospitals, centers for the disadvantaged and other places for those who suffer.

In 2003, St. John Paul II presented the world’s youth and young adults with the Marian Icon under the title of Salus Populi Romani, meaning Mary, Protectress of the Roman People, which has accompanied the WYD Cross for the past 15 years as a sign of Mary’s protective and nurturing presence to her son and young people.

In 2002, the WYD cross was displayed at Ground Zero in New York City for a brief visit to bring comfort to the nation's young people in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Prior to that, the cross was last displayed in the United States in 1993, ahead of WYD in Denver 25 years ago.

The WYD symbols tour is in advance of the October 2018 Synod of Bishops focusing on the theme, “Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment.”  The role of the Synod is to accompany young people in their faith journey.

The 16th WYD will take place in Panama from January 22 – 27, 2019. Panama is the first central American nation to host the event, which will include a music festival, dozens of seminars for youth and a highly anticipated four-day visit by Pope Francis.

For more information about Holy Name Cathedral’s WYD Cross and Icon schedule of Masses and veneration, please visit https://pvm.archchicago.org/events/wyd-symbols

For more information about the WYD Cross and Icon U.S. tour, please visit http://www.usccb.org/about/world-youth-day/visit-of-the-world-youth-day-cross.cfm