Catholic students watch Microsoft flight debacle with joy and cheers in German terminal

“Country roads, take me home. To the place where I belong,” rang out from the crowded Eurowings check-in desk in Cologne on July 19.

The choir was led by 28 American students, a priest with a guitar and their faithful leaders, stranded at the airport trying to get to Rome.

The group participated in the Catholic Worldview Fellowship, a month-long Catholic immersion program sponsored by Regnum Christi that exposes students to Catholic culture in both Northern Germany and Rome. Regnum Christi includes the Legionaries of Christ, the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, the Lay Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi, and lay members from all walks of life.

As the group attempted to travel to Rome for the second leg of the program, they became the unfortunate victims of the large-scale CrowdStrike tech outage that shut down much of the world on July 19.

Early that morning, Microsoft computers around the world crashed after cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike attempted to update its software. A wide range of industries, from banking to airlines, felt the immediate impact as Microsoft systems crashed.

The aviation sector was hit particularly hard, with FlightAware reporting more than 5,000 cancelled flights worldwide.

For the Catholic Worldview Fellowship, their Eurowings flight to Rome was one of 77 flights cancelled by the airline.

But despite everything, the resilient group of Americans remained positive and made the most of the unexpected adventure. The students’ and staff’s response to the challenge left an impression on Nathan Sullivan, director of operations and program management for Catholic Worldview Fellowship, who devised solutions to the logistical challenges.

“One of the things I love about the program is the unique diversity of both the faculty and the students,” Sullivan said. “We already have such a talented group of people who are passionate about the current needs of the culture that you throw them into an unusual situation like this, and they have the grace and confidence to respond accordingly.”

“Our employees have freebies. We had logistics colleagues who could figure out how to get from point A to point B, while others were able to keep morale high, which was clearly evident during this adventure,” Sullivan told OSV News.

When the day began, the students expected to be in Rome that afternoon. But when they arrived at Cologne Airport, they were met by a sea of ​​people, all trying to check in for their flights. At first, the group thought it was just a minor issue with the airport’s baggage check. But then, one by one, news alerts hit them and they realized they were victims of a global tech crisis.

“You have two choices,” Legionaries of Christ Father John Klein, who serves as chaplain for the Catholic Worldview Fellowship, told the students. “You can just sit there and let the negative things roll around in your head over and over again — or you can choose to take a conscious stance to find the good in a situation and take advantage of the good things that are in front of you.”

“As Catholics, we believe in God’s providence and that he always creates and makes something new in a moment. We have to trust that God still has a plan and discover it in our destroyed plan, and we discover something new,” he said.

Encouraged by their priest, who brought his guitar, the students began to sing.

“Because we had Father Klein, who could play guitar, he was able to play a series of beautiful songs,” said Connor Waymire, a colleague at Benedictine College.

“We were out in public to not only cheer up the people here, but also all the other people who may have been struggling with delayed flights,” which is “a very worrying time, and there’s nothing better than a little bit of Fergalicious to solve all of our problems,” Waymire said, referring to a song American singer, songwriter and rapper Fergie recorded for her debut studio album.

Inspired by the music, the students’ disappointments soon turned into optimism.

“I enjoyed the optimism that our group had,” said Anna Fredette, a fellow who recently graduated from Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California. “These situations set people apart and show what kind of people you’re with. It’s good to be with a group of optimistic people. It’s just a lot more fun than being with pessimistic people.”

That optimism spread to the anxious passengers who crowded the Cologne terminal. When the group began “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and other American classics, foreign passengers joined in, many flocking to film the joyful Americans.

“Good music helps to lift the human spirit, when we’re in a situation and someone plays good, uplifting music, it reminds you that there’s more than the situation you’re stuck in,” Father Klein said. “When people start singing along and you remember that there’s a human connection, it breaks tension and it unites a group.”

After a long wait, the lines at the check-in desk finally started to move, but the flight to Rome had just departed and the second flight to Rome had been cancelled.

The boys relaxed in an airport cafe, playing games and singing new songs, while the group leaders came up with a new plan.

While airlines were in a frenzy over rebooking passengers, leaders decided to embark on a new adventure: an 18-hour train journey through Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

However, even the prospect of a long journey starting at 4:15 the next morning could not deter the students’ attitude. They were looking forward to a day of sightseeing in Europe, they said.

“When I heard we were going to take the train, I told myself I had no control over this. So when we take the train, I’m excited to see what happens and I want to enjoy every minute of it,” said Victor Myrna, a student at North Carolina State University.

“On a plane, everyone is facing the same direction and there’s not much of a view out the window,” Myrna said. “On a train, however, you can talk to people sitting across from you and you can look out the window and just enjoy God’s creation, which made the train ride very enjoyable.”

Program participants said the train ride gave them the opportunity to embrace the vibrant community they had already formed and to connect even more deeply with other students.

“Everyone here is willing to have a conversation with anyone. It was a highlight of the program,” Fredette said. “I think we’re always eager to have really deep conversations, so today gave us a great opportunity to fulfill those desires because we had plenty of time to laugh and talk on the train.”

They concluded that there are spiritual lessons to be learned from the chaos of travel.

“Throughout life, we face adversity,” Waymire said. “If we just got everything the way we wanted it, is that really life? Today showed me God’s providence and the way he gives out gracious gifts. If he just gave us everything we wanted, there would be no reason to pray.”

Jack Figge writes for OSV News from Kansas.