DHAKA (UCAN) -- Young Bangladeshi Catholics preparing to attend the World Youth Day (WYD) celebration in Australia focused on the spiritual heart of the event by reflecting on Pope Benedict XVI's message for the occasion.

Cecelia Tripura (left), Laboni Mondol (center) and Rosy Rongma – three Catholic students practice a traditional Bangladeshi dance.

Salesian Sister Zita Rema, secretary of the Bangladeshi bishops' Youth Commission, told UCA News they have asked the 21 Catholic youth delegates "to reflect on the pope's message and prepare an assignment based on their learning from it."The theme the pope chose for WYD 2008 is: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses (Acts 1:8)."

Sister Rema will accompany the 14 young men and seven young women aged 18-24 along with Holy Cross Bishop Moses M. Costa of Dinajpur, chairman of the commission, Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi and a priest.

"We conducted an orientation session for the participants and told them our trip to Australia is not a tourist visit," she added. "It is a spiritual journey to meet the world family of youths."

The Bangladeshi youths will participate in prayers and meditation during the July 15-20 WYD events in Sydney, so the delegates have been preparing spiritually in this way too, she said.

The participants were to gather on July 9 for their final preparatory meeting and a special Mass before flying to Australia.

Sister Rema, speaking July 7 at the Salesian Sisters' house in Dhaka, said that receiving a blessing from the pope would be an exciting moment for her team's young people. The WYD event also offers the opportunity for Bangladeshi youths to offer something of their culture, part of an international sharing.

The nun stood watching as three young women delegates practiced a traditional Bangladeshi dance to be performed on July 16 at the Asian Youth Gathering, a feature of the last several international WYD celebrations.

"I never expected that I would get such an exciting opportunity to participate in the World Youth Day abroad," Laboni Mondol told UCA News as she took a break from practicing her dance moves in time to a Bangla (Bengali) song.

Mondol is a first-year bachelor's degree student in social science at Khulna Women's College, about 300 kilometers south of Dhaka.

When Khulna diocese's vicar general told her two months ago she had been chosen to join the WYD, she recalled, she "was very excited."

Dhaka archdiocese and the five other dioceses in the country selected the youth applicants who would go under the auspices of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB).

Mondol arrived in Dhaka from Khulna on July 5 and went to stay with her relatives while she attended rehearsals of their devotional dance and spiritual preparation activities with the other delegates.

Like Mondol, Rosy Rongma was practicing her dance moves. The graduate student in social science, a member of the indigenous Garo community, came to Dhaka from Mymensingh diocese on July 7.

"First of all, I thank God for this opportunity of being able to represent Bangladesh at such a huge gathering," Rongma told UCA News. "I hope to learn many things from the event, especially about the life of youths in other countries." She also plans, after her return, to share with local youth what she learned abroad.

Another college student, Cecelia Tripura, from Bandarban district in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, is representing Chittagong diocese.

Tripura, a young tribal woman, told UCA News she wants to present herself at the event as an educated Bangladeshi Christian woman. She said her dream of receiving a scholarship to study in Australia had not come true, but the opportunity to participate in the WYD would at least give her a chance to get a feel for the country.

None of these three women have previously traveled abroad.

"We are very happy to have this wonderful chance," Mondol said. "We hope to learn from the event and look forward to sharing the experience with other youth."

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