There  was a full-on coach journey starting at 2am, getting to London for 7am. We watched people walk past us on a busy London road whilst we waited for the other groups, the people walking past dressed to kill – they were going as guests to the Cathedral.

Unfortunately we couldn’t go inside; we had to watch the Mass from a big screen. We saw photos at the beginning of young people from every diocese, and the Salford World Youth Day 2010 was one of the pictures displayed on the screen.

The music for the Pope's entrance was dramatic, breathtaking, like something from Star Wars. I always thought Zadok the Priest was a good entrance – it's used for the Coronation – but this newly-composed piece of music brought down the rafters the roof. Words cannot describe it – you have to listen to it for yourself.

During the Mass we were sat down outside the Cathedral. Unfortunately the high London buildings blocked the sun so it was quite chilly. By the Gospel you couldn’t feel your behind, legs nor feet. Pins and needles had kicked in and attempting to stand up was out of the question, but the pain was WORTH it!

When the Pope came out I was shocked at how close we actually were to him, you could see him perfectly, when you look at him on TV he looks just like any other priest, but when he’s stood in front of you, it’s a completely different story.

We all walked to Hyde Park as a group, escorted by police. One of the things I can’t understand is the protests against him. This child-abuse scandal isn’t his fault, the way I see it is it’s not the Pope's fault. People should be rejoicing at his visit to the United Kingdom, they can protest anytime can’t they?

In Hyde Park we had a number of live performances, I’ve always liked listening to ‘The Priests’. I’ve got all their albums, but to see them live when I wasn’t expecting it just made the day go better. The build-up to the Pope coming in his Popemobile was exciting - the Salford Youth in particular changed football chants into religious ones… different to say the least!

When you saw the helicopter in the sky, you knew he was coming. It got closer and closer and his journey was on the numerous big screens, watching people run down the street to keep up with him, I could go and say it was amazing, exciting, but no words could explain the Visit, you had to be there to witness it for yourself.

The Pope went on the stage area for the Vigil. There were readings and so on but one of the things that stumped me is that he just stood up, waved and left. I’m sure I missed something, unless I was waiting for some sort of encore, curtain call I don’t know, I said to Laura is that it? And she said yes, I was like but that can’t be it, and it was. In fewer than 12 hours, we’d travelled to London, seen the Pope, and experienced something some people will never experience in a life time.

I feel privileged to have seen him, I remember a banner which said, We love our German Shepherd, and yes, we do love him, he represents our faith, which is something that we’ll always have, when we’re happy, when we’re sad our faith is always there at some stage.

David Murphy – St John the Baptist, Rochdale