![WYD-Flier-Front-[Web]_web](/d/Resource_Library/News_and_Events_Pictures/2022/August/Week_4/C7M93KV3I3LUAV5W0GWY808P7ATPOB/4OIGY9ID9ULU5YN_FREEFORMSIZE_860_null.jpg/WYD-Flier-Front-5BWeb5D_web_FREEFORMSIZE_860_null.jpg "WYD-Flier-Front-[Web]_web")
World Youth Day 2023 is coming!
Catholic Youth Ministry Perth has now commenced planning for the August 2023 international event.
World Youth Day (WYD) is the gathering of young people with the Pope from all over the world.
It is also a pilgrimage, a celebration of youth, an expression of the universal Church and an intense moment of evangelisation for youth around the world.
Established by St John Paul II in 1985, the international WYD events are weeklong gatherings that usually attracting hundreds of thousands of young people.
At the closing Mass of the last international WYD, in Panama City in January 2019, Pope Francis announced the Portuguese capital would host the next global Catholic gathering of young people.
A priest hears confession from a World Youth Day pilgrim at Omar Park in Panama City, 25 January 2019. Photo: CNS/Carlos Jasso, Reuters.
WYD Lisbon was initially scheduled for August 2022, but the Vatican announced last April that it would be postponed to August 2023 due to the pandemic realities.
That delay means that the next international WYD comes following a four-year stretch -- the longest between the global celebrations in the history of the event. This means that for many dioceses and parishes, it will have been seven or 10 years since they have organized a WYD pilgrimage to the more well-attended international WYD celebrations in Brazil (2013) or in Poland (2016).
Although its Catholic identity is clearly evident, WYD opens its doors to everyone, no matter how close to or distant from the Church they are.
It aims to provide all participants with a universal Church experience, fostering a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. It is a new stimulus to the faith, hope and charity of the entire host country community. World Youth Day also seeks to promote peace, unity and fraternity among peoples and nations around the world.
The 2023 host city of Lisbon, Portugal, is home to the birthplace of the St Anthony of Padua -- born circa 1191 as Fernando de Martins Bulhoes near the Lisbon Cathedral and where a permanent exhibition is kept in his honor.
World Youth Day pilgrims hold candles during a prayer vigil with Pope Francis in Krakow, Poland, in this July 30, 2016, file photo. Photo: CNS/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Catholic Standard.
Portugal also has a plethora of historic monasteries, convents and noteworthy Catholic churches and shrines and is a popular pilgrimage destination in its own right.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Perth invites you to join millions of young pilgrims from around the world to the next World Youth Day, which will be held in Lisbon, Portugal in August 2023. We have partnered with Harvest Journeys to make your WYD experience a truly memorable and possibly even a life-changing one!
If you are interested in journeying with other young adults from Perth, please take the time to register your interest. We will be in touch with you to keep you up to date with all things WYD and to get you registered and ready to go!
To register your interest: https://www.cym.com.au/wyd
View the Tour Package: https://wydjourneys.com/tour/wyd-direct-a/
Visit the World Youth Day Lisbon 2023 Website: https://www.lisboa2023.org/en
PLEASE NOTE: This form is only for those who will be aged 18-30 at the time of WYD in August 2023.