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The Findings are in: Popestock versus WoodstockYouth Festivals: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly
In 1969, a group of investors sponsored the Woodstock Festival and Concert. Woodstock was a music festival outside of Woodstock, NY, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition."
There were actually three Woodstock Festivals, 1969, 1994, and 1999. All had free flowing alcohol, drugs and open sex. Overall, though, even with this and with the numerous violations and medical emergencies, it is agreed that the “Love In” festivals I and II did not realize the degree of chaos, anarchy and catastrophe that was originally anticipated. The third Woodstock Festival, Woodstock ’99, did leave a very negative legacy. The three-day music event disintegrated into a melee of vandalism and destruction on its final night, and one woman stated that it wasn’t even safe to be there. Woodstock '99 is best remembered for reports of violence, fires, and an abrupt closing down of the show, and grew even uglier amid allegations that several women were raped during the event. (Washington Post, Alona Wartofsky, July 29, 1999) Few people realize, however, the depth of the corrosion of culture to which Woodstock actually contributed. The festival did much more than exemplify the hippie counterculture of the mid-1960s through early 1970s. It strengthened and intensified it. Here is one analysis of two entirely different events. The first, World Youth Day, is a festival of spiritual love. The second, Woodstock, is a festival of self-love. PopestockFrom August 10 -15, 1993, America hosted the World Youth Day, a Catholic Conference for some 500,000 youth in Denver, Colorado. It was a spiritual event, full of heart and love, and appreciation for the gift and culture of life. The theme song was “We are one body, the body of Christ, and He came that we might have life.” It deepened faith for many tens of thousands of young pilgrims. There was no violence, no rape, no drugs or drunkenness, no nudity or lewdness. There was prayer. There was gratefulness for the sanctity of life and love for all brotherhood. Many were changed forever, and World Youth Day instilled the Holy Spirit in many, many families. Then, with the visit of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, it became affectionately known as “PopeStock.” The Second WoodstockThe following year, from August 12 -14, 1994, America witnessed Woodstock II, a concert that celebrated the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock concert of 1969. Between 235,000 and 350,000 people attended the three-day event. The site became, once again, a counter-cultural event where drinking and drunkenness was rampant, drugs were all but legal, and “love” was “free.” But it wasn’t all peaceful as intended. About 150,000 crashed the concert without buying a ticket. Profanity was rampant. There were numerous injuries. For the concert, there were two field hospitals (with 40 beds each), 15 first aid stations, 120 doctors, 240 nurses, and 30 emergency teams. On Saturday night, the medical facilities were swamped with patients, and one doctor estimated that they were seeing 100 patients per hour bringing the problems that such counterculture events draw. One singer summed up the theme well when he shouted to the crowd, “We’re Generation F-- You!” Woodstock II did not approach the levels of violence, sexual assault and rape, drunkenness and drugs, looting, and anger, riots, car burnings, and destruction of the following Woodstock ‘99. But Woodstock ‘94, at best, presented a spiritual emptiness and cultural crudeness. The DifferencesPopestock was an event of the most blessed kind - for some 500,000 youth. It lifted and celebrated human life and the experience of unconditional, other-centered love. It celebrated communion with God, and a sense of what it is to live a holy, dignified and sanctified life. It was an orderly and peaceful event. In contrast, Woodstock was a thinly disguised juvenile fest. But the money was good, so Woodstock ‘94 was seen as a successful public-private venture irrespective of the effect on youth or the morality of it. Popestock was about an enlightened human experience. Woodstock was about a counter-cultural experience. Which was better for society? For Further ReadingPriests for Life - A Celebration of Life Helpers of God’s Precious Infants
The copyright of the article The Findings are in: Popestock versus Woodstock in Catholicism is owned by Nelson Acquilano. Permission to republish The Findings are in: Popestock versus Woodstock in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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