There are Testimonies and there are Testimonies...

I wrote yesterday about World Youth Day. It is fair to say that it was a huge success, but not without its challenges and setbacks. Central and South America are not world leaders in organisation so one of the things that had to be overcome in the lead up to the event was to convince people that not only could Panama host the event, but that it could be the huge success that it turned out to be.
Today I spent some time with Fr. Justo Rivas who is a priest of the Archdiocese of Panama. Justo, who is a former student of mine in the seminary, was one of the main local organisers of the events leading up to, and during, World Youth Day. He told me today that, even with two weeks to go, there were many things that still had not been put in place. In fact, it was the young people who saved the day - they organised themselves into groups of volunteers to take on all sorts of tasks.
Justo told me of two of the most interesting "testimonies" that were heard during the evet. One young man (I'll call him Iván) was from a middle-income family which was just about managing. When his father lost his job due to the firm closing down, Iván and the rest of the family found themselves to be in very straightened times, often not having enough to eat. His family was disintegrating before his eyes and Iván knew that he would have to get money somehow. Unfortunately, as is the case with so many people (and not just young people) throughout the world, Iván made choices that turned out to be disastrous, not only for him, but for many people.
He began to deal drugs for some of the local gangsters. Initially, all seemed to go well but, as time went on, Iván gradually became his own best customer and became hopelessly hooked on the very drugs he was selling to others. This, of course, led to a spiralling decline which brought him, very quickly, to the attention of the courts and, ultimately, to jail. Jails are never nice places but, especially in South America and Central America, they can be places of extreme violence where gangs rule and life is cheap. However, Iván got help while in jail and, on his release, was introduced to the people at the St. John Paul II Centre who have supported him while he got off the drugs and into employment - in his testimony he highlighted the fact that if it hadn't beeen for the help he received from people he met along the way, he would not now be alive.
Another testimony, somewhat different, that was heard during the World Youth Day event wasn't one that formed part of the event itself - it was in a new bulletin. Another young man, let's call him Carlos, was interviewed and he proclaimed himself to be a thief and petty criminal. In the interview he told listeners that he and the members of his "guild" would not be active during the Papal visit so people need not fear - they would not be robbed. In fact, during the whole event, only one pilgrim was robbed and the courts sent out a clear message by sentencing him to 12 years in prison. Carlos was true to his word. In fact, he was true to his word in more than one way because he also told listeners that once the Pope was gone it would be back to business as usual and that he and his "guild" would "take it off you once again": and so it was, immediately after the Pope had left, criminality returned to the level it had been at before he came.