Day in Parishes

Prior to the World Youth Day is the week called (Days in Diocese) which is the Mission week or week to do works of Mercy.
This aspect was lacking in our First Mini World Youth Day in Walkersville in the Archdiocese of Johannesburg in the year
2015. We introduced this aspect in Durban MWYD 2017 and there was a lot of positive feedback from host parishes,
families and our pilgrims, some mentioned having enjoyed that more than the actual event for the things they learnt through
that experience. This is important for young people to experience hospitality of the diocese, to learn the culture and life of
the people in that area and to build bridges.

The Host diocese is expected to have a coordinating team that will spearhead the preparations for the DAYS in
Parishes in your Diocese:
a. Diocesan Team:
 The Diocesan Team should be formed, at least with a Coordinator, Assistant Coordinator and
Secretary. The full contact details of this team will need to be forwarded to the SACBC Youth
Office.
 Other portfolios may be added as the diocese see fit.
 This team will need to establish which Deaneries can host, considering transport issues too. They
will need to approach those deaneries to approach parishes within the Deanery.
 This Committee needs to oversee the preparation for Diocesan Day and assist and encourage
the Deaneries to prepare for Deanery Days.
 Formulate pilgrims guide and provide maps with estimated distances.
 Review the programme and discuss it with SACBC Youth Office.
 Liaise with SACBC, Deaneries and group leaders of Pilgrims for assignments.
 Arrange transport to Diocesan Day and assist Deaneries to arrange transport to Deanery Days.
 The list of Hosting Deaneries is to be submitted before the end of April.
 The List of Hosting Parishes and numbers per parishes should be submitted by the end of July.
 Allocation of Groups will be done in August, September and October.
 Organise fun, Educational and Spiritual activities and encourage and assist lower structures.
b. Deanery Team:
 Deanery Team should be formed, with both adults and young people.
 The names of Coordinators and their contact details should be sent to the Diocesan Team.
 Encourage Parishes to host and explain the importance of this exercise.
 Prepare a Deanery Day and Transport for Pilgrims to and from Deanery day.
 Submit a list of Hosting Parishes to the Diocesan Team, with Parish Coordinators’ details.
 Submit numbers each parish is willing to host to the Diocesan Team.

 Communicate the Programme of the DID as agreed with the Diocesan Team and Bishop/s.
 Encourage Local Youth to participate in all the activities of the DAYS in Parishes.
 Organize fun, Educational and Spiritual activities and encourage parishes to have some
interesting activities in place.

c. Parish Team:
 Parish Teams should be formed, with both adults and young people.
 The names of the Coordinators and their contacts should be sent to the Deanery and Diocesan
Teams.
 They are to encourage Parishes to host young people in their homes for free and explain the
importance of this exercise.
 See to it that the meals due at the parish and activities of the Parish Day and other days’
gatherings are in place.
 Encourage Parish Young people to participate in the programme of the Days in Parishes.
 Organize fun, Educational and Spiritual activities.
 Organize preparatory meetings for host families.
 Arrange transport for pilgrims during their stay in the Parish.
 Evaluate the Days in Parishes with relevant people and send the report to the Deanery and
Diocese.

We do foresee that many young people will choose Johannesburg as their host. There is a need to secure as
many parishes as possible and to have transport and allocation plan in place. Parishes need to be encouraged to
participate in the activities. Young people of the Parish need to be involved in the preparation and in the running
of the programme and as participants. Care must be taken during allocation / selection of pilgrims to families that
no one feels unwanted or unloved. It should not only be rich families that host, any family, unless there are serious
risks known by the Parish Priest or Parish Council, should host.

Each Pilgrim attending Days in Parishes will be charged a small fee of R200 – R250 per pilgrim. This will help host
dioceses toward transport to Deanery Activities and Diocesan activities plus meals and setup of event areas.

The two major activities of the Diocese is Deanery Day and Diocesan Day. Some planning will have to go to it.

The above schedule is a general guide to the activities during the Days in Parishes and can be discussed and amended. The host Parishes need to be informed of the scheduled and prepared to avoid any miscommunications. The MWYD registration team will require groups to indicate if they want to attend the DIP and will select the diocese they wish to go to. The Registration team will forward the group list to the dioceses for allocation in deaneries and parishes and communicate the allocation to the group leaders.