Cover story: St. Martin students are heading to Spain

By Tom Waring

Times Staff Writer

The St. Martin of Tours high school youth group has engaged in all kinds of productive activities since re-forming last year, and now the young people are planning for their premier event.

A dozen teenagers are raising money to pay for a summer trip to Spain for the Catholic Church-sponsored World Youth Day. The major fund-raiser will be a March 12 beef-and-beer event.

Pope John Paul II initiated the celebration in 1985, and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta serves as the patron saint. It's been held every two or three years since then at different locations, including Rome, Argentina, Denver, Poland and the Philippines.

Each time, hundreds of thousands of young Catholics have attended from around the globe.

This year's celebration will take place in August. While planning is still being done, participants will attend Mass, concerts, exhibits, plays and guided museum tours.

There will be plenty of interactions with youths from other countries. In the past, the teens have traded flags, shirts and other items as souvenirs.

Members of St. Martin's Youth Living the Eucharist (SMYLE) are counting down the days.

"We're proud of being Catholic, and this is a way to celebrate our religion with Americans and people from different countries," said Nicole Guerrero, a sophomore at Little Flower High School. "It will be a great experience we will always remember. And it's not every day you get to go to Spain."

In all, eight girls and four boys from the Oxford Circle-based group will attend.

Besides Nicole, the group consists of Taylor Opaliski and Stephania Gutierrez, both freshmen at Little Flower; Natalia Ruggiero, a sophomore at Bishop McDevitt; Morris Bantum, a junior at Father Judge; Allyson Leopold and Austin Kilian, both freshmen at Franklin Towne Charter; Shannon Mulhern, a freshman at McDevitt; Cinthia Pabon, a freshman at Tacony Academy Charter School; Jenise Bernier, a sophomore at John W. Hallahan; Luke Flanagan, a junior at Archbishop Ryan; and Adam Maqboul, a sophomore at Roman Catholic.

The overseas trip promises to be a late-summer treat.

"We're going to be meeting people who share our faith," Opaliski said.

The kids will be joined by four adult chaperones: The Rev. Christopher Cooke; youth minister Joseph Mastrangelo; Liz Wal; and Beth Riordan.

While the students will be making their first trip to World Youth Day, the adults have been there before.

Cooke was there three years ago in Sydney, Australia, with a group from St. Eleanor Parish in Collegeville. Mastrangelo attended celebrations in Toronto in 2002 when he was living in his native Texas and in Cologne, Germany, in 2005 when he served as a volunteer for World Youth Day. Riordan traveled to Paris for the 1997 celebration.

"It's such a powerful moment to be there," Cooke said. "It will give them a concrete religious experience. It'll be a life experience they'll never forget."

Mastrangelo expects the youths to be part of a welcoming ceremony for Pope Benedict XVI. Perhaps the biggest highlight will be a Mass attended by hundreds of thousands of people.

Other highlights will include festivals, prayer, adoration, religious instruction, games, a walking pilgrimage, cultural activities and an evening of sleeping under the stars with up to 1 million people.

"It's going to be a great, worldly, life-changing religious experience," Mastrangelo said. "It's a great opportunity for these teens."

The trip will run from Aug. 14 to 24, and the group will visit Madrid and Barcelona. The chaperones are handling the travel plans to try to keep the cost down, but each participant must pay $2,450 for the flight, hotel accommodations and other expenses.

The young people are raising money any way they can. Leopold is putting pennies in a jar. Bantum is a disc jockey. Flanagan works at a health club. Bernier is employed by a law firm.

Also, their parents are helping to offset the expense.

"If we didn't have them, the trip wouldn't be possible," Leopold said.

The money collected so far has come from a variety of fund-raisers, including a Super Bowl hoagie sale. The kids delivered the leftover hoagies to the homeless on Kensington Avenue.

During the Christmas season, the teenagers held a lunch with Santa Claus and a day camp. They're selling rosaries for $1 and holding a raffle for a television. They also held a movie night and Wii tournament.

"We've raised a lot of money," Ruggiero said.

The March 12 beef-and-beer, they hope, will bring them closer to meeting the financial obligation. It'll be followed by an Easter flower sale. The money is due by June.

Since the group formed in February 2010, members have served food to the poor and homeless at Kensington's St. Francis Inn, attended the nine-day Gospel Roads summer retreat at La Salle University and traveled to Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life. They also engage in fun activities like going to the movies.

The young people are spreading the word about their trip in the parish bulletin and on Facebook, fliers and posters. They anticipate that World Youth Day will be a meaningful experience.

"It's going to bring us closer to God," Leopold said.

St. Martin's Youth Living the Eucharist (SMYLE) will hold a St. Patrick's Day-themed beef-and-beer benefit on Saturday, March 12, from 7 to 11 p.m., in the parish gym.

Tickets cost $30 in advance or $35 at the door and include food, beverages and music by a disc jockey.

Proceeds benefit the group's trip to World Youth Day in Spain.

To buy beef-and-beer, 50/50 or basket of cheer tickets, or for more information, visit the rectory or call 215-535-2962.

Donations can be sent to St. Martin of Tours, 5450 Roosevelt Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19124. Write "World Youth Day" in the memo section of the check.