Matthew Gallagher
  • Marketing, Managing Human Capital, Leadership, Ethics and Organizational Sustainability
  • Class of 2019
  • Bridgewater, NJ

Matthew Gallagher of Bridgewater Attends World Youth Day and MAGIS Program

2016 Sep 21

Matthew Gallagher, a Saint Joseph's University sophomore, traveled to Poland in July to take part in World Youth Day (WYD) and its accompanying service program MAGIS. The Bridgewater, New Jersey, resident made the pilgrimage to Poland alongside Saint Joseph's University campus minister Justin Hoch and recent alum C.J. DeMille '16. The trip occurred from July 15-31.

WYD is a week-long, world-wide Catholic event focused on faith and youth, celebrated every three years in a different country. This year's WYD was held in Krakow, Poland. MAGIS is an international Ignatian service program held in the ten days prior to WYD. Over 2,000 participants from this year's event were placed at different service sites throughout Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

Gallagher, a student of the Haub School of Business, cited several reasons for his decision to attend WYD.

"I wanted to experience the rich history and culture Poland has to offer," says Gallagher. "It was exciting to be in Krakow, the city of St. John Paul II and St. Faustina, two saints who have influenced the Catholic Church and Church tradition in many ways. It was also a wonderful opportunity to continue to deepen my relationship with God and at the same time, do service activities for the Polish community."

The alumnus of Seton Hall Preparatory in West Orange, New Jersey, was assigned to an experience called "Living Stones: Torun, an Opportunity for Faith Dialogue through Art and Architecture" in which he studied historic churches and provided free tours to those who visited the Church of St. Mary.

"I decided to focus on the Church of St. Mary, a Franciscan Monastery and Church in northern Poland," says Gallagher. "I gave many tours to a variety of different people including a group from France that barely spoke English."

After the program in Torun, Gallagher traveled to Czestochowa, Poland, where he reunited with fellow SJU community members and the other participants of MAGIS. On July 25, the group journeyed to Krakow to join approximately three million additional pilgrims for WYD. The week in Krakow consisted of several activities, including the Youth Festival, the Papal Welcome ceremony, the Way of the Cross and the vigil and final Mass with Pope Francis, with some free time to explore Krakow.

However, the most meaningful time for Gallagher came during a trip to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

"The most impactful moment for me was when we visited Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II - Birkenau the day before Pope Francis visited the site," says Gallagher. "I have a deep love of history and I feel that we can learn from the choices made before our time. I learned much about the Holocaust in Middle School and High School; however, a picture in a textbook never gives justice to the actual place. There is an eerie chill walking through the concentration camp. It is unimaginable to fathom how the Third Reich devised and executed plans to build and maintain these camps, without regard for human dignity."