Three special rosaries in each WYD pilgrim’s pack

Over one and a half million rosaries made in Bethlehem from olive wood are being produced in Bethlehem for the World Youth Day (WYD/JMJ), scheduled for January 2019 in Panama.

Monsignor Pierre Bürcher, bishop emeritus of Reykjavik, Iceland, plans to donate the rosaries to the young people participating in the event which will be attended by Pope Francis who will ask them to pray for peace. The rosaries are being produced through a project called AVE JMJ, headed by Monsignor Bürcher, which seeks to encourage young people to pray for peace.

“We decided to call the project Ave JMJ, where ‘Ave’ represents the prayer to Mary, while JMJ is the Spanish acronym of World Youth Day, but also the initials of the names of Jesus, Joseph, and Mary,” explains Monsignor Bürcher. The project involves 800 people, working with 81 million beads and 750 kilometers of elastic yarn to assemble the rosaries.

“We have 11 workshops already involved in the project. Some specialize in rosary beads and others in crosses. Working the olive wood is an essential trade in Bethlehem and was in the process of disappearing, but with this initiative, the workshops have reopened,” said Monsignor Bürcher.

The crosses will be engraved on one side with the word Bethlehem, remembering its origin and on the other, WYD 2019. Young people attending the event will be given three rosaries, one for themselves, another for someone in Panama and the third to take back to their home country where they can give it to another young person.

The rosaries will cost one dollar each, and the San Juan María Foundation is looking for financing for the initiative.

News Room Panama