World Youth Day (WYD) is an international encounter with the Pope which is typically celebrated every two to three years in a different country. The most recent WYD was celebrated in Panama City (Panama) in January 2019. At the final Mass of WYD 2019, Pope Francis announced that the next World Youth Day will be held in Lisbon in 2022. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the date has since been moved to 2023. Keep in touch with your Parish or Diocesan Youth office for details about a pilgrimage.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is at the heart of the themes for the upcoming WYDs, which are taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke:
World Youth Day, 2023: “Mary arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39)
The themes are a continuation of the reflections begun by Pope Francis for the last three World Youth Days, which focused on the Beatitudes. At World Youth Day in Krakow, Pope Francis invited young people to have “memory of the past, courage for the present and to have/be hope for the future.” The themes “are intended to give a clear Marian tone to the spiritual journey of the next three WYDs” and at the same time “give a picture of young people on a journey between the past (2017), present (2018), and future (2019), inspired by the three theological virtues of faith, charity, and hope.” Continuing this spirit, at the World Youth Day 2023 the young people will be especially invited to pray and to deepen the main devotion recommended in the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria, in Fatima, in particular the prayer of the Holy Rosary.
The “path that is being proposed to young people can also be seen to be in harmony with the reflection that Pope Francis has entrusted to the next Synod of Bishops: Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment.”