Hundreds of thousands of Catholic teenagers and young adults are beginning to converge on Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, for the Church’s XXXVII World Youth Day (WYD). The activities, which begin on July 25, will intensify from August 2- 6 when Pope Francis arrives for the final days of the festival of faith and fellowship.
Since the first “prototype” WYD was held in 1984 in Rome, the international gathering has normally been held every two or three years in a host city chosen by the pope and the Vatican’s office for the laity. The international event is typically held on a different continent every three years with the presence of the pope. Pope Francis announced that the Portuguese capital would host the global Catholic gathering of young people at the closing Mass of the last international World Youth Day in Panama City in January 2019.
Lisbon, a city of 505,000 people, is around 75 miles from Fatima, one of the most visited Marian pilgrimage sites in the world. A report on “European Young Adults and Religion,” published in 2018, found that Portugal has one of the highest levels of weekly Mass attendance among young people in Europe. World Youth Day in Lisbon was initially scheduled for August 2022, but the Vatican announced postponed the event by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The bishop overseeing preparations for World Youth Day 2023 told CNA in an interview earlier this year the event will be an opportunity to renew hope in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “I wish WYD Lisbon 2023 to be from and to all the people and that it can mean an opportunity to renew the hope in the post-pandemic period,” Bishop Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar said.
The World Youth Day cross has many names: Jubilee Cross, Pilgrim Cross, and Youth Cross.
An outside glance of an international World Youth Day celebration would spark a bystander’s curiosity as massive crowds of young people flood the city streets. Some might cringe at the thought of those words, wondering what delinquency is in store, yet to witness this gathering would end those fears. The happenstance observer would witness not angst and malice, but smiles and joy, singing and dancing young people, culture upon culture and nation upon nation, proudly holding their flags high (or wearing them), greeting one another in peace, trading their tokens, humbly realizing how small they are in a world of people, and strengthened to witness so many who share their convictions. How did it all begin?
Beginnings
An outside glance of an international World Youth Day would spark a bystander’s curiosity as massive crowds of young people flood the city streets. Some might cringe at the thought of those words, wondering what delinquency is in store, but to witness this gathering would end those fears. The happenstance observer would witness not angst and malice, but smiles and joy, singing and dancing young people, culture upon culture and nation upon nation, proudly holding their flags high (or wearing them), greeting one another in peace, trading their tokens, humbly realizing how small they are in a world of people, and strengthened to witness so many who share their convictions. How did it all begin?
