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Three Love Stories from WYD
Many met their spouses there for the first time

Madrid, March 16, 2011 - World Youth Day is more than just a gathering of thousands of young people. In the words of John Paul II at World Youth Day in Denver, it “helps youth reflect on their deepest aspirations” and is “a time when many make daring and courageous decisions.” Many young people have discovered their vocation to marriage, and have even met their future husbands and wives at a World Youth Day. The stories of Jasmin and Justyna in Toronto 2002, Claudia and Rafael in Denver 1993, and Françoise and Pierrot in Sydney 2008 are just a few examples.

No matter the country or continent...


Jasmin was working for the promotion of World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto (Canada) when Justyna, a young Polish volunteer in charge of coordinating the youth from her country came up to the table asking for material on how to appear on television. It was April 22, 2002. At that first meeting, Jasmin already thought "this is the woman I'm going to have a family with."

It was the beginning of a relationship that would lead them, five months later and already as a couple, to meet with Pope John Paul II on the last day of WYD.


Jasmin and Justyna meeting the Pope at WYD and with their family today.
After WYD, Justyna returned to her country, but with the mission that both would seek a job to be reunited. Upon learning that the Chief Executive Director of WYD in Toronto, Father Thomas Rosica, had begun a Catholic television producer called Salt and Light, Justyna immediately found a flight and moved to Canada. She started with an internship at Salt and Light and it’s been almost seven years now that she has been working there.

In the same office that once served as the headquarters for WYD Toronto 2002 and in the same place where they first met, Jasmin proposed to his girlfriend on January 30, 2004. On June 5, 2004, the young couple was married in Warsaw at the Church of Saint Anne. The ceremony, which was concelebrated by Father Thomas Rosica, was attended by many of the Polish volunteers who helped out in Toronto. They now live in Canada and have two children whom they have baptized with names that can be pronounced in English and in Polish: Maksym and Aniela.

Following good advice

Claudia and Rafael, both from Mexico, met at WYD in Denver in 1993, near the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and since then have never been separated from God.


Claudia and Rafael with one of their 5 children.
Both were in the group of the Neocatechumenal Way in Neucalpam (Mexico), however they had never seen each other before the pilgrimage. Rafael was struggling to recuperate from a time of anxiety and depression. He was disoriented and decided to go, following the advice of a catechist who had told him to go to WYD.

Rafael was in charge of a busload of forty young people, among whom was his future wife, Claudia. She had worked hard to raise the money to attend WYD, just like her daughter is doing now, to attend Madrid next August.

"Be not afraid!" "Open wide the doors to Christ!" These were the words that made an impact on them during those days, preparing them for the path that the Lord had in store for them, words that still guide them in their marriage today. Fifteen years later, they still have the ticket to the Prayer Vigil and the Mass.

When they returned home from WYD, they continued to see each other regularly at Mass and slowly but surely, a close, profound relationship emerged and...they ended up marrying. Now, Claudia and Rafael are encouraging all young people, including their daughter, to come to Madrid, “for an adventure that will surely go beyond your imagination.”