After settling into our hotel the Frs set off to get there accreditation for the Papal functions. Long story short it didn't go well, we have to back tomorrow be aide the Holy Father announced that he was going for a tour around the city after he landed. The cathedral was in a state of chaos with painting and cleaning. The atmosphere was amazing. People singing and cheering.

This evening we had Mass with all the English speaking pilgrims in one of the parishes of Rio. The large church was filled with pilgrims from Birmingham, London, Nottingham, Eastanglia, Gibraltar, parts of America, and many more!!

This morning was incredibly emotional as we said farewell to Petropolis. The last few days have been indescribable. The atmosphere in the group has been incredible and the bonds of affection and appreciation have been unforgettable.

Our morning prayer was a decade of the Roasary and we prayed for the people who have hosted us and those who will benefit from our presence. The centre sang a song to us and thanked us for our time. One of the translators thanked us for opening out hearts to them and asked to continue opening our hearts to others. There were tears all round.

In only 4 days it is hard to imagine what an amazing bond of friendship that has been formed. A huge and heartfelt thanks to the community, the people, the families and everyone from Petropolis who have looked after us these las few days. We'll pray for you!

Ola from Pir last day in Petropolis! last few days have been very busy. Myself and Heather have been river cleaning, gardening and walkin a 'Golden Mile'. It Is just a pleasure to see in the eyes of a pilgrim what we do as a group, and not individually doing in making an impact on the local community and helping them to sow seeds of hope in every child we see at the mission.

The views we have encountered in Petropolis have been stunning. Later we had Mass in English and Portugeses with the children.

God bless.

Today was our last day on the mission. It has been quite an emotional day. The garden has been completed and will now help to support 14 families in the village with food and an educational programme based on how they manage the garden.

The fence which we have been painting has also been completed, the church in the village looks great.

We blessed the garden and dedicated it to the intecession of St Chad and after a very beautiful Mass this afternoon after which we blessed the fence.

Our work is done... It seems sad to say that, we will not be going back to see our work, see the benefit it will have. Our attention will now change to WYD itself. We are ready for it!

With a very full timetable that changes every few minutes throughout the day Alex and Heather haven't found time to sum up yesterday. You'll have to wait till we come back!

Today we finished painting the railing around the church on the mission, went river clearing and have almost finished the garden we have been planting.

Many pilgrims from Canada, Chille, Costa Rica, America and I'm sure many more got together for a little party. After Mass some went out for a little drink, others to rest. I went to my Brazilian adopted parents for various flavours of juice! We're playing the PS3 at the moment. Not only can I not play football in real life, I can't play it in the virtual world either!

It's been an intense and hard working day. Tomorrow is our last day on the mission before heading down into Rio for the main WYD events.

Thanks to a free 30min session of WiFi we can just let you know we're at our stop over in Paris. We found out that we are not the only pilgrims on our plane, there is a group of 25 young people from the diocese of Gibraltar on our flight. That is about 75 World Youth Day pilgrims on the flight! Who knows who else we might meet. This could be the last post until we finish our mission in Petropolis.

Here is a map of where we will be for the next few days. If we can't be in touch just picture us in shorts and t-shirts playing football (obviously, not Fr Michael!) singing songs, painting fences and planting gardens. Thank you following us!

Alex and Heather are going to post something tomorrow night about the second day of the Pilgrimage. There were lots of things happening so it might be a long post tomorrow. We'll only tell you enough to whet the appetite ready for ya proper and full report when we get back home. But so you don't feel short changed, here's a picture before heading off to the mission and a picture of the mountains around the mission.

We began out WYD pilgrimage with Mass in England. That day finished almost 40 odd hours later with Holy Mass at the community chapel in Petropolis. Yes, we have arrived safe and sound. It was great that this mammoth day of travel was framed by what is most important, meeting the Lord in the Mass.

We received wonderful welcome from our hosts for these days in the diocese. We had breakfast, a quick tour of the very beautiful city and it's cathedral. After lunch we travelled out to the village where we will be supporting the locals with a little redecoration... Watch out Alan Titchmarsh and Charlie Dimock, Birmingham Youth are in town!!

The lovely children at the mission treated us to some dancing that was a fusion between samba and ballet. We got to explain a little about where we have come from. I presented the crowds with a jar of our finest and locally produced Marmite. Even in Brazil you either love it or you hate it!

After supper and little stroll to aid digestion, we celebrated Mass and retired to bed. Me and three others have had the grace of being adopted for the week. We've been welcomed by a lovely family and their speaking pets.

God bless for now.

The first pic of the trip! We've done the first leg of the trip, a very warm bus trip from Birmingham to Coventry and from Coventry to Heathrow. Here we are out side Harrods, a last bit of Englishness before departing for France.

Hello all! Fr Michael here just checking in before tomorrow's journey. Not long now before we head off. The bags are packed, I think! I am sure that something has been forgotten. I know I have forgotten to order any currency for Rio. Oh well, it's a bit too late now. Just enjoying a little tipple with some good friends before going to bed ready to meet all the pilgrims for the Commisoning Mass at Holy Family in the morning. We will be praying for you all. God bless.