The West Auckland Conquest club gave a warm (and well-organized) welcome to the boys on the ECYD convention.

July 31, 2008. Auckland, New Zealand. The distance between a Conquest club in Washington, DC and a club in Auckland, New Zealand is 8,622 miles, about 1/3 of the earth’s circumference. But, as the 41 boys on the ECYD convention prior to World Youth Day discovered, physical distance is no obstacle when it comes to sharing the same spirit.

Aside from World Youth Day itself, one of the highlights of the boys’ ECYD convention was their historic visit to a Conquest club in West Auckland. The Auckland club gave the boys a magnificent welcome in a local parish. They set up Mass for the group, put on a musical concert with violins and other instruments, and even sang for them. The boys who participated were amazed at how two clubs so far apart in distance could instantly be so close because of their shared ideals.

Nick Lulli, 18, a

	A moment from the Mass that the Conquest boys shared.

Regnum Christi member who volunteered as a youth leader on the trip, said: “I was impressed by the openness and cordiality of the New Zealand ECYD boys we stayed with in Auckland.  They provided a fine example of what it is to be a host, and one could see that our boys were influenced as a result.”

“The sharing of ideas between clubs thousands upon thousands of miles apart was a living testimony to the universality and catholicity of the Church and the Legion,” he said.

To watch a video of two members of the West Auckland club singing for the ECYD boys, click here. 

To see another moment from the West Auckland Conquest club’s musical performance, click here.