• JERUSALEM: A HISTORY –

It started as a youth program on July 22, 1989 designed to answer the problems and demands of the youth of the Archdiocese. As the late Archbishop Alberto J. Piamonte observed, “There were many youth masses before, but they never succeeded. Jerusalem has been going strong since it started.”

It began at St. Clement Church, a place that was selected for its accessibility to the youth. The Youth Ministry of the Archdiocese had already been in existence for five years. But there was a problem. The onslaught of Fundamentalism was taking its toil on the young of the Archdiocese.

The initial idea was to argue and to fight toe-on-toe with the proselytizing Fundamentalists; but it was not to be. In the process of starting a program, the late Fr. Espiridion “Boy” Celis Jr., the newly appointed youth minister at the time, reasoned he needed to meet the youth and “get his feet wet” before formally starting the program of apologetics. “I will just say Mass first” in order to meet the youth and the potential leaders.

A seminar was organized to instruct the initial leaders on how to prepare the Mass. This brought in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), an almost unknown document at that time, of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

| Talk of the town

So, it started as a Mass. Although the organizers never called it such, it became fondly referred to by the youth as the Jerusalem Mass. When the Mass started to catch on among the youth, it was phenomenal. Hundreds began to flock in. everyone wanted to attend. It easily became the talk of the town.

As a result of this, Archbishop Piamonte decided this was the program. “If you do not know what is happening,” he said to Fr. Celis, “don’t change a single part of it. Let the Mass be as it should be.”
This became the rallying call of Jerusalem — faithful to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Archbishop Piamonte set it clear: “No experimentation. The GIRM is the playground inside which the youth can stay.”

How revolutionary was Jerusalem when it started? It was the first youth ministry started as a Holy Mass. It was the first Eucharistic program among the youth. For many years, parishes latched on to it. It was insisted, however, that nobody goes out of bounds of the GIRM, and no chapter was allowed to operate without first undergoing intensive seminar and study of the GIRM, at least on the permitted practices.

| World Youth Day 1995

Jerusalem prepared the youth of the entire Archdiocese for World Youth Day 1995, bringing more than 3,500 delegates to Manila. It was one of the biggest pre-registered delegation outside of Manila.
As a result of the Archdiocese-wide preparation of the youth, i.e., not only the delegates but all the youth of the parishes were given orientation about World Youth Day. When the visit of Pope St. John Paul II happened, a parallel celebration using satellite broadcast of the events in Manila was organized at the University of San Agustin.

| Why does Jerusalem Work?

Jerusalem works because Jerusalem works. This is not a tautology. The Holy Mass is not a show that the Catholic Church puts on every week. Neither is it the solo performance of a priest before a passive audience. Jerusalem works because all the young people who come commit themselves to be involved in the Mass, doing their own share of what Jerusalem calls its ministries.

Through the years, Jerusalem catechized the youth in the parishes, in schools, and in workplaces. In annual gatherings and rallies, it kept the youth vibrantly alive. These young people are now all over the world bringing the dream of Jerusalem to everyone. They have reached Thailand, Vietnam, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, and everywhere Filipino workers have reached. In each of these places, they communicate with us their joy as they serve the Eucharist.