Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

Johnny Gonzalez, 17, of Mother of Christ Parish in Miami, plays his guitar while waiting for Archbishop Thomas Wenski to give him and nearly 200 other World Youth Day pilgrims a farewell blessing.

MIAMI SHORES � Going to World Youth Day has become a kind of tradition for Johnny Gonzalez�s family.

When the 17-year-old arrives in Madrid five days from now, he will be following in the footsteps of his mother and his older sister.

�She already went when she was young,� he said of his mother. �My sister went to World Youth Day in Germany and I�m going now.�

Gonzalez, with his guitar in hand, was among 190 World Youth Day pilgrims � 150 young people and 40 chaperones � who stopped by the archdiocesan Pastoral Center Aug. 11 on their way to Miami International Airport to receive a blessing from Archbishop Thomas Wenski.

�I�m excited, yeah. I�m overwhelmed,� Gonzalez said while waiting for the archbishop to arrive.

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

Archbishop Thomas Wenski blesses 16-year-old Ricardo Silva, seated, and his parents, members of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Miami, before their departure for World Youth Day.

One of 78 parishioners from Mother of Christ in Miami who are traveling to World Youth Day, Gonzalez belongs to the Neocatechumenal Way, a spiritual movement active in a number of archdiocesan parishes.

All of those who gathered in the Pastoral Center belong to the movement. Excluding chaperones, they ranged in age from 16 to 28, according to Stefano Benigni, who along with his wife Lucia serves as archdiocesan coordinator of the movement.

The group traveling from South Florida represents seven archdiocesan parishes with 30 Neocatechumenal communities, as well as eight parishes from the Orlando area, four from Fort Myers and eight from the Turks and Caicos.

Benigni said the group is flying to Denmark first, where they will spend four days evangelizing other young people.

�We want the youths to talk to other youths, especially in a secularized culture, about their experience of Jesus, to share their faith,� said Benigni.

After World Youth Day, the group will remain in Spain for a couple of days to gather with between 200,000 and 250,000 other members of the Neocatechumenal Way from around the world � 51,000 alone from the U.S.

�This pilgrimage is also a vocational call, to raise vocations,� Benigni said.

Archbishop Wenski greeted the young pilgrims in the Pastoral Center�s atrium � the very place, he pointed out, where Blessed John Paul II, who started World Youth Day, had stood when he visited Miami in 1987.

�Our Church has a future because it has young people,� Archbishop Wenski said. �Our Church has hope because it has young people.�

He then proceeded to sprinkle holy water on the pilgrims and handed each one a crucifix to take on the pilgrimage.

Another group from the archdiocese, led by two Claretian Missionary Sisters, is already in Spain and will begin blogging about their experience next Monday on the archdiocese�s Let�s Talk blog.

Radio Paz 830 AM, the archdiocese�s Spanish-language radio station, will broadcast live the World Youth Day events involving Pope Benedict XVI. Click here to see the schedule.