During a week of extreme high temperature warnings, altar servers on a pilgrimage to Rome found many ways to cool off and strengthen their faith by visiting the city's underground catacombs, cavernous basilicas and a temporary pilgrimage center near St. Peter's Square.
Pilgrimage organizers turned a large air-conditioned auditorium into a cozy, relaxing haven for thousands of girls, boys, young men and women to have something to eat and drink, meet others for prayer, games, music and discussion, and discover more ways to serve the church.
One afternoon July 31, kids were: getting temporary tattoos with the help of a nun who held down the damp cloth to transfer images onto tanned or sunburned arms; standing in front of a greenscreen to superimpose their picture onto a photo of Pope Francis; winning prizes for holding the plank position the longest; paint-decorating their pilgrimage T-shirts; relaxing on beanbag chairs; planning podcasts and getting more information about the church's charitable efforts, vocations and volunteer opportunities at a stand run by the Salesians.
Their overnight accommodations "are outside of Rome, so here they can meet, have a place of joy and connection," Tobias Knell told Catholic News Service. Knell is secretary-general of Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium (CIM), the international association of altar servers that organizes the pilgrimage, usually held every four or five years, along with the German bishops' conference.
The highlight of the July 29-Aug. 2 pilgrimage was meeting with Pope Francis in the square July 30. More than 50,000 altar servers from 20 countries and 88 dioceses were joined by another 20,000 guests and young people.
"Altar servers are present everywhere the church is present," said Knell. The first pilgrimage was held in 1962 with about 2,000 altar servers going to Rome. Today, tens of thousands of young people attend.
Typically, the majority come from Germany, about 35,000 this year, because "there is a big tradition" of young people serving during Mass, he said. "There are 360,000 altar servers in Germany," which means "about 9% of Catholic youth are altar servers."
In the pews, it is often difficult for small children to sit still for Mass, while having an important task and serving at the altar is "a very good way" for children to participate more closely in the liturgy, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, president of CIM, told Catholic News Service July 29.
"They can develop a closeness to God, a closeness to holiness also, a sense of mystery, of awe, and I think that's very important because our times (are) in need of God and of transcendence again," he said.
"Altar servers are a shining testimony in a time in which it is often difficult for young people to be actively present in the church," said Bishop Johannes Wübbe, Auxiliary Bishop of Osnabrück, Germany, and president of the German bishops' commission for youth ministry.
"They stand at the altar as representatives of the whole congregation. Their enthusiasm and commitment are infectious and inspiring," he told reporters July 29.
Gustav Rönsch, 18, from Dresden, Germany, told CNS July 31 he wanted to be an altar server because of the strong sense of community, a lot of his friends were servers and because "it's beautiful."
Having altar servers from around the world come to Rome to see the pope and meet each other on pilgrimage gives them a sense "that we're not alone," that there really are a lot of young people who are Catholic, said Frieda Rönsch, Gustav's sister and a fellow altar server.
Asked how she sees her place in the church as a young woman, Frieda, 15, said, women have a place as altar servers and in other ways. Jesus "was a man … so I think it's good that priests are men and women are not pushed out or something, but we can take a place in the church. So I think it's good like it is."
Cardinal Hollerich told CNS that "women are welcome and we have to develop these ministries by baptism," such as being an altar server. Pope Francis also established the ministry of acolyte and opened it up to women "which was necessary."
Asked if part of the push to have women deacons could be because women want to continue to have a place near the altar and serve as they grow older, the cardinal said, "No, first there should be, what the synod says, that there is participation through baptism."
"It's inadmissible that the baptism of men should be given more weight than the baptism of women," said the cardinal, who is also relator general of the synod on synodality.
"How things will develop further, we have to see. We have to ask the Holy Spirit," he said.
Having served in the synod since 2021, the cardinal said, "We can see that there are very different sensibilities in different continents. And we cannot push things against one another, we have to speak openly, honestly with one another and ask the Holy Spirit to show us the direction to go."
As for all young people, "I'm very happy if they do not stop (being) altar servers, if they continue to be altar servers as young women, young men, and of course they are an example for the kids," he said.
"They are so important to the church. I wish really that all young people feel welcome in the church and feel that they have a place," he said.
