Saturday marked the 25th year since Pope John Paul II was in Denver for World Youth Day in 1993. Catholics celebrated with the second largest event since then.
Mark Haas with the Archdiocese of Denver says more than 4,500 people attended World Youth Day at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland. There were 148 parish locations represented from 25 counties.
Randy Dollins was 17 years old when he saw Pope John Paul II in Denver.
"I don't think I would be a priest if I had not gone to World Youth Day," he said.
This important day for Catholics in Colorado and all over the world was something that sparked a divine calling for the now Father Dollins.
The Archdiocese of Denver said today's event is their largest Catholic gathering since the Pope's visit, but it's not the same.
“There's different challenges that we face,” Dollins said.
He said there are a lot of young people who don't see the importance of going to church anymore – not Carol Escamilla.
"Being Catholic to me is like a big responsibility," said Escamilla.
She said she knows being Catholic isn't the "cool" thing to do, “just because I feel like there's a lot of teens who think that church is boring,” she continued.
She went to World Youth Day because she believes it can get better.
"I feel like it would be cool if we did like more retreats," she suggested. "Like have speakers who are younger and can speak to younger people."
She's a part of the biggest community in the Colorado Catholic Church – Latinos. The Archdiocese of Denver knows how big this community is, so they set up two sides of the event one completely in Spanish and another completely in English.
Everyone started and ended up together, however, for a celebration.
