The Tablet at World Youth Day 2016 - meet the bloggers

Hundreds of thousands of the 2.5 million expected visitors to the World Youth Day in Krakow this week have already made their way to the southern Polish city.

Among them are The Tablet’s bloggers who will be giving us an insight into their experiences over the next week.

Here is a chance to meet them:

Rick Netherwood, 30, Kenelm Youth Trust, Alton, Staffordshire

Hey there! My name is Rick Netherwood aka Woody to many people! At the age of 30 I am currently in Poland for my third World Youth Day after going to Cologne '05 with the Salesians of Don Bosco, and Sydney '08 with the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

This time around I am with the Kenelm Youth Trust, whom I currently work for as the Programme Leader at Soli Centre for Youth Ministry. This role is based in Alton, Staffs, living in community with over 20 other employees and gap year volunteers at St John's parish.

Although a proud South Londoner from St Bartholomew's parish I have been serving in youth ministry across the country for 12 years now.

My journey has taken me to Macclesfield, Liverpool, Nottingham and three years ago to the Archdiocese of Birmingham. It is a great joy and honour to serve the young people and the Church sharing my passions for singing, drumming, Crystal Palace FC and most importantly my faith.

After the many tragedies we have seen in the news in these last couple of months I am truly looking forward to experiencing a great joy, hope and peace amongst young people from across the world united as one in Kraków for World Youth Day - we are one world and one people - 'blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.'

Roseanne Armstrong, 30, St Raphael’s, Yeading, Middlesex

Hi. I currently work in the children's ward as a ward administrator at West Middlesex hospital, in Isleworth, Middlesex.

I chose to come to World Youth Day as since the first time I heard about the event was in  2000 in Rome when I was 13, but ever since then I felt a call within me to go and be a part of it.

Last July was the first time I was sent an email regarding World Youth Day being in Krakow and from that moment I knew I had to apply to go.

As for what I am most looking forward to this week: it is being in the presence of Pope Francis and to hear him celebrate Mass. Since he has been elected the Church has grown, I think, thanks to his teachings and the lifestyle he leads as Pope.

I also hope to make new Catholic friends, friends that I can rely on in the future in my faith journey, as well as feeling a part of a worldwide Catholic community.

In the words that Jesus spoke: "When two or three are gathered in my name I am there in their midst." Matthew 18:20

Tom Kinsella, 27, One Hope Project, Dulwich, South-East London

My name is Tom, I'm 27 years old, and was born and raised in Brighton.  I'm now living in London and am part of a worship community called One Hope Project. We are a group of friends who love to worship God and love to be in His presence. We serve the Church through hosting prayer events and leading worship music. Alongside this, I work full-time in the London Insurance Market.

One Hope Project are journeying to Kraków with theASCENT - a catholic discipleship process aiming to raise up a prophetic and passionate generation that are intent on serving Jesus in their locality.

There are so many reasons why I made sure I wasn't going to miss out on WYD16; I am passionate about encouraging young people towards an encounter and relationship with Jesus, so seeing  the migration of millions of young Catholics coming together under one name, Jesus, is something I'm looking forward to. It's inspiring and faith building to see the church on such a large scale and excited to see the faith of so many young people (including myself) grow. Throw in the fact it's the homeland of St. Pope JPII this was a party I wasn't prepared to miss.

Kwame Osei Owusu, 19, St Edmund’s Parish, Edmonton, North London

In my parish I have been recognised for my achievements and my active participation in parish activities. Becoming the winner of the Knights of St Columba Prayer Competition in 2012 and 2014 were very exciting moments in my Christian life as they enabled me to express my poetic skills through prayer and writing. Currently, I serve on the altar in my parish and am a member of the Junior Knights and Ladies of Marshall.

Recently, I  finished my A level in Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics at St Ignatius College in Enfield, North London. During the World Youth Day, I would like to learn more about how young people in my generation could get closer to the church and improve on my spiritual life. Also,I would like to make new friends who share the same Christian faith as me and how we could exchange ideas on how our generation could still have faith in Christ and become successful in life.

Lastly, I would like to learn new experiences from Polish culture and other countries attending the World Youth Day.

Stephen Stewart, 25, St John the Evangelist Cathedral, Salford, Greater Manchester1

It is a real honour to be asked to write for The Tablet sharing my experiences from the 14th World Youth Day. Hi I am Stephen, a young Catholic from Worcester. I work full time as a sales engineer for a local compressed air company.

My journey started around 18 months ago when I went to a youth mass at St John's the Evangelist Cathedral in Salford while visiting my sister. Fr Simon Firth approached me at the end of Mass and asked whether I would be interested in joining the Salford Diocese going to World Youth Day. My initial response was to tell him I was not from Salford but lived in Worcester in the midlands but he said this doesn't matter and told be to come along anyway. Over the last 18 months I have traveled up to Salford on several occasions to preparation meetings to learn more about our pilgrimage and have just had our final meeting last weekend which ended with the commissioning mass at the Cathedral.

Over the last year I have joined the Catholic Society of Worcester where we have regular meetings and experience different ways to celebrate our great faith. This is where I met my girlfriend Chloe who is also going to World Youth Day but with Birmingham Diocese, hopefully we will meet up in Kraków and be able to share each others experiences.

This is my first World Youth Day and I am not sure what to expect but I am looking forward to meeting lots of young people from all around the world and finding out how the Catholic faith is celebrated in their country and what they are doing to get the youth interested in the Catholic faith.

Joseph Njonginiyil Philip, 23, St Mary's Catholic Church, Poole, Dorset

I am here for this world youth day with an open mind and an open heart. I want to put to prospective the strength of the catholic faith and all its culture and most importantly see in action how other pilgrims express their faith in this world.  

I was born and bought up as a Catholic, and at certain times of my life, faced difficult questions about our faith in Jesus. For me, world youth day will be an anchor to hold me down when people despise you and prosecute you because of your faith and hope in Jesus. To know that I am not the only one who is on this same journey and that our goal is to enter heaven one day and be with Christ the author of the world for eternity in itself is an important part which brings this event even more important and what surely will be one of the highlight of my life.