WYD LISBON 2023, press release, Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life •
The International Preparatory Meeting for World Youth Day Lisbon 2023 concluded n October 19 in Fátima. From October 17-19, the event gathered all the teams of the Local Organizing Committee (COL) of WYD Lisbon 2023, who met with representatives of bishops’ conferences and youth ministry offices from around the world, as well as church movements and religious congregations. The goal is to share, dream, plan and pray together for the next WYD. —
The opening session of the Meeting was attended by Card. Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, Dom Manuel Clemente, Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, Prof. Augusto Santos Silva, President of the Portuguese Parliament, Dom José Ornelas Carvalho, President of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference, and about 300 international delegates representing many countries around the world.
Announced the Pilgrim Packages for WYD Lisbon 2023
During the two days of work, the delegates were able to listen to Dom Américo Aguiar and Duarte Riccardi, President and Secretary General of the COL – and the different teams that are working on the organization – as regards the status of the work at the pastoral, liturgical and logistical levels: an open dialogue to promote the active participation of all young people – no one excluded – at the event that will be the first major gathering organized by the Catholic Church since the pandemic and also marked by war. The COL highlighted a special focus on synodality, sustainability, participation of people with disabilities, and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.
Registration plans have also been announced for pilgrims seeking accommodation, food, transport and insurance services. More information on the different modes of the Pilgrim Packages for WYD Lisbon 2023 can be found here and general information here.
Entrust to Mary the path of preparation of pilgrims towards WYD 2023
Fr. Alexandre Awi
The Youth Office of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life encouraged COL to “continue on the path taken by always being able to count on the support and guidance of the Dicastery,” commented Fr. João Chagas, head of the Youth Office.
The Meeting was an opportunity to introduce delegates to the John Paul II Foundation for the Youth, which launched its new website www.fondazionegiovani.va, and the International Youth Advisory Body (IYAB), both organizations that work closely with the Youth Office of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.
Fr. Alexandre Awi Mello, recently appointed Superior General of the Schoenstatt Fathers, stressed that “being gathered in Fátima acquires an important meaning for all the delegates, because they can concretely entrust to Mary the path of preparation of pilgrims towards WYD 2023.”
The venue for this meeting was, in fact, the Shrine of Fátima, and moments of prayer marked the activities with the celebration of Mass and the reciting of the Rosary each day.
During October 19, all the participants took a tour of Lisbon to visit the venues where the August 2023 WYD events will take place, as we await the upcoming opening of online registration.
Some of this event’s numbers:
- 280 participants;
- 180 countries, congregations and movements represented;
- more than 50 languages spoken;
- more than 70 priests.
The next World Youth Day will be held in Lisbon from August 1-6, 2023. From July 24-31, 2023, young people are invited to “Days in the Dioceses” throughout the archdioceses of Portugal. This year’s WYD will be celebrated in the particular churches on the feast day of Christ the King, during the weekend of Nov. 20, 2022.
