CATH NEWS REPORT:
Two weeks later, the inspiring and charismatic “Bishop Joe” died suddenly in a Melbourne hospital of a blood disorder.
Nonetheless the enthusiastic Lougoon, 22, decided he would lead a large pilgrimage group in Bishop Joe’s memory and as he stood up to speak at Bishop Joe’s vigil celebration on January 5, 2011, he committed to trying to get 100 pilgrims from the Diocese to go to Madrid.
“Bishop Joe’s wish was to have 100 young people from Sandhurst go to WYD this year. It is exceptionally hard to do it, but we really want to try”, he said.
“I went to World Youth Day in Cologne in 2005, and I have no doubt that this is a large part of the reason I am working in Youth Ministry today”, said Lougoon.“Bishop Joe really wanted everyone to have an experience of the universal Church, and the opportunity to realize that you aren’t the only person in the world that believes. He felt that being part of WYD helped young people to see the bigger picture. He wanted young people to experience the love that God has for each one of us”, Lougoon said.
“I’ve been involved in youth ministry in the diocese for the last three or four years. I was part of the Journey of the Cross and Icon in Bendigo and then on the Youth reference group for the Diocese. I attended the youth leaders gathering and then the Australian Catholic Youth Ministry Convention at Bishop Joe’s request.”
Lougoon has just completed an engineering degree and decided to take 12 months off from that work to focus on youth ministry.
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