World Youth Day

Paul has organized and escorted 3 World Youth Day trips to Europe.

World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne, Germany
Paul’s largest group he organized and escorted to Europe was 76 people on a 16 day/14 night trip. The group stayed in Rome, Florence, the Swiss Alps, Cologne and Paris. They visited the Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Basilica and Square and the other three Major Basilica’s, the Holy Steps and the Colosseum in Rome. They celebrated Masses in the catacombs, the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls, the Eucharistic Miracle of Orvieto, the Assumption in Florence, the Miraculous Medal shrine in Paris. They prayed rosaries at the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano and St. Vincent de Paul’s tomb in Paris. They prayed at the tombs of St. Catherine of Siena (incorrupt), St. Catherine Laboure (incorrupt), St. Francis and St. Clare. The Papal Mass finale had approximately 1.2 million people in attendance.

Paul was able to do the trip for $2.200/person which included airfare from Seattle, all ground transportation, lodging and meals (except for 9 lunches). If a profit had been added to the cost, he would still have beaten the closest bid by $500.

World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain
He organized and led a group of 54 people on a 19 day/17 night trip. The group stayed in Paris, Macon, Nimes, Lourdes, Zaragoza, Madrid, Fatima and Lisbon. The group had Masses at three incorrupt saints (St. Catherine Laboure at the Miraculous Medal shrine in Paris, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and St. John Marie Vianney) and three shrines of Our Lady (Lourdes, Zaragoza and Fatima), Prayer at a Eucharistic Miracle and rosaries at the incorrupt St. Bernadette and Vincent de Paul,

The Papal Mass finale had approximately 2 million people in attendance. The group also visited in Paris: the Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur Basilica, Sainte Chappelle, Eiffel Tower, Arc of Triumph and the Louvre Museum; Versailles; Nimes: the Roman arena and temple; the medieval walled cities of Carcassonne and Avila and swam in a river under an ancient Roman aqueduct and in the Atlantic in the beach city of San Sebastian.

Paul was able to do the trip for $3.000/person which included airfare from Seattle, all ground transportation, lodging, meals (except for 12 lunches) and any entrance fees to the places visited. If a profit had been added in to the cost, he still would have beaten the closest bid by $500 plus they had 5 additional nights (the best bid was $3,800 for only 12 nights).

World Youth Day 2016 in Krakow, Poland
He organized and escorted a group of 18 on a 17 day/15 night trip. The group stayed in Rome, San Giovanni Rotondo, Assisi, Florence and Padova, Italy, took a night train from Venice to Vienna, and also stayed in Krakow and Prague.

The group visited the Vatican, St. Peter’s and the other three major Basilicas of Rome, the Holy Steps, the Colosseum, the ancient Roman ruins of Ercolano. They had Masses in the Roman catacombs, the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, St. Clare’s Basilica in Assisi, San Marco in Florence, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, St. Luke’s tomb, Our Lady of Czestochowa and the Infant of Prague. Prayer at the tombs of St. Catherine of Siena, St. Francis, St. Philomena and St. Pio (incorrupt). The Papal Mass finale had approximately 2 million people in attendance.

Paul was able to do the trip for $3,250/person which included airfare, all ground transportation, lodging and meals (except for 10 lunches) and entrance fees with tour guides to the Vatican Museum, the catacombs and Ercolano. If a profit had been added to the cost, he would still have beaten the closest bid by $300 plus the group had 5 additional nights (and got to go to Italy).