As an Eagle Scout, former member of the Kansas Army National Guard, and fourth-year college seminarian for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, Ben Rogers knows a thing or two about being prepared.
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Wadowice ‘offers a taste’ of what formed JPII
The small town of Wadowice, about an hour outside of Krakow, brims with the history of its most famous resident: St. John Paul II. During their second day in Poland, pilgrims from the archdiocese were able to tour his childhood...
Medical condition almost keeps pilgrim home
Jessica Luna, a parishioner of All Saints Church in Kansas City, Kansas, and an incoming freshman at Benedictine College in Atchison, almost missed out on coming to World Youth Day.
Pilgrims carry the spirit of pilgrim who died before WYD
Daniel Warner, a 16-year-old parishioner of Mother Teresa of Calcutta in Topeka, was so excited to go to World Youth Day in Krakow.
‘Pope of Mercy’ greeted with cheers, tears
When I asked the pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas what they were most excited to see in Poland, one response was almost universal: Pope Francis.
‘It is only because of the Polish people that we are Catholic’
Sudeep Kodigandla has dreamed of visiting Poland for nearly 15 years.
One big, loud, crazy Catholic family
It was in Jasna Gora, a world-famous Marian shrine in Czestochowa, Poland, that many of the pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas got an important lesson in the diversity of the Catholic family.
‘All of us returned home changed’
I traveled to Krakow, Poland, with 107 very special people.
Deaf pilgrim ‘hears Mass’ for first time
Cecelia Grove, a parishioner at St. Paul in Olathe, was attending the opening Mass for World Youth Day when she noticed a group of pilgrims that were “hearing” the Mass in sign language.
Faith, family lighten load for triathlete who travels with a lot of gear
World-class triathlete Katie Hursey Zaferes travels with a custom bicycle and enough workout gear to outfit an entire aerobics class.