On 1st August, a group of fifteen young people and Augustinian Religious met in London to fly out to Pavia, in Northern Italy, for an Augustinian youth
gathering there. Despite some initial nervousness, we got on well, and had an extremely rewarding trip. The days were both long and busy, full of discussions, presentations and other activities. Even for the young and resilient, up to sixteen hours of scheduling a day proved challenging! The accommodation was much more advanced than usual ñ instead of camping or sleeping on school floors, we all had our own rooms (and en suite bathrooms!) in the local university halls of residence, and the events mostly took place in the beautiful basilica and castle, both in the centre of Pavia.
The gatherings are always multilingual affairs; in Pavia, all announcements were made in Italian, Spanish and English, and we also met people who spoke (among other languages) German, Slovakian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, and Maltese. Although it's true that a lot of people know some English, there are also many who don't! Fr Gianni, Michela and Sr Miriam all helped with translations (particularly Fr Gianni, who did a lot of the official Italian/English translations), and most of us picked up a few words in different languages ñ I can now say "Hello" or "How are you?" in four more European languages than when we left England!
For those of us who had attended previous youth gatherings, there was the chance to re-unite with friends from earlier gatherings, as well as to meet new people. There's always a great spirit of friendship and community; although we were in a giant group of strangers, it never felt like that. The first days were a little more awkward, as everyone got used to the atmosphere and we began to meet people in the sessions and icebreakers. But after that, people started talking very easily, and if you were on your own, you could sit with someone you'd barely met and still feel at home. What did come across very strongly was the sense of the Augustinians as a family. Most of the time at home, it doesn't feel that different from being in a diocesan parish; these events, though, have a real atmosphere, a sense of identity, of belonging in a much larger group. The people we met weren't really strangers, they were our brothers and sisters. It's a great feeling, and it makes it very hard to feel left-out or lonely; there were several people in our group who had never been to a national gathering before, let alone an international one, and who were nervous about going. Afterwards, though, everyone talked about how enjoyable it was, and how "at home" we had all felt.
One of the most important ideas that came out of the gathering for most of us was the Augustinian commitment (and the commitment of the Augustinian Youth in particular) to social justice. While, of course, such events are attended by people who can afford the travel costs (though the group from the US had also raised funds to bring two young people from the mission they have in South Africa, who would not otherwise have been able to attend), there was still representation from six continents, and from developing as well as developed countries. We had a day of presentations on social problems in our home countries, and all the discussions I attended were really excellent; it's good to be able to discuss some of the really big problems in the world, and to acknowledge that we should be looking at ways to solve them. I remember, in particular, the presentation by the group from the US; they began by asking all of us what we thought the problems were, and it was a real experience to hear people from countries like Puerto Rico and Panama talking about what they see happening in the US, and the direct effect it has on their lives.
Of course, it wasn't all sessions, discussions and prayer. Among other things, we also watched an enjoyable and thought-provoking musical about the life of Christ put on by a local group; had a Festival of Nations where each national group did a short show to represent their home culture (afterwards, people kept telling us that ours was the best, and it was certainly the funniest!); an Italian festival with karaoke(!); and went on a trip to Cassago Brianza, where Augustine stayed for some time, and where the residents showed us amazing hospitality, and Milan Cathedral where he was baptised.
Not to mention the trips out during the lunch break to buy ice-cream, games of Frisbee during the breaks, and even the occasional trip to the bar, by some of the people who still had energy left at the end of the day! On the last full day of the gathering, we had meetings in our national groups to discuss our overall impressions, and the ideas we were taking home with us. Though all of us had had different experiences ñ since we didn't all go to the same events, and had made different friends, and so on ñ we all said that we had had a really good time, and got a lot out of our stay in Pavia. We also came back with some interesting ideas we had seen in some of the presentations, and we are hoping to apply some of them within our own province; watch this space! And, of course, there's the next international gathering, in Sydney 2008 ñ it will run in conjunction with the World Youth Day there, and we're starting to save already, as well as coming up with ideas to raise funds! The international gatherings are always a fantastic experience for those of us who are lucky enough to attend them. Often there are people who haven't been involved with the Augustinians on a national level; sometimes they aren't even regular churchgoers. It never seems to matter; once you've been to one gathering, you're hooked, and you'll always come back for more.
