Lisbon (Portugal). On 27 January 2019, at the end of World Youth Day in Panama, Pope Francis announced the year and location of the XXXVII WYD: 2022 in Lisbon, an appointment postponed to August 2023, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The theme that accompanies the youth event is “Mary set out and traveled in haste” (Lk 1:39). Pope Francis, on 22 June 2019 in Rome at the International Youth Forum , expressed the desire that the path towards the XXXVII World Youth Day be in harmony with the guidelines that emerged from the Synod of Bishops “Young people, faith, and vocational discernment” and the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit: “Do not ignore God’s voice urging you to stand up and follow the paths He has prepared for you. Like Mary and together with her, be the bearers of her joy and love every day. Mary got up and went quickly and in haste to visit her cousin. Always ready, always in haste, but not anxious. ”
On the way to prepare for the world event, the choice of the logo is significant, which summarizes the concepts related to the theme and accompanies young people to live the experience.
On 16 October 2020, the 42nd anniversary of the election of John Paul II, creator of the World Youth Days, the winning logo of WYD 2023 competition was announced. The author is a young Portuguese designer who explains the dynamics which inspired her: “According to the theme of the Day, Mary does not remain immobile but decides to visit her cousin. It is an invitation to young people to not stand still, to make sure that something happens, to build the world and not to abandon it into the hands of others “.
In the ‘JMJ LISBOA 2023’ logo, in the colors of the Portuguese flag, the Cross dominates in green, traversed by a road where the Holy Spirit rises, represented by a thin yellow line.
The profile of Mary facing outwards, moving to go towards her cousin Elizabeth, “expresses the youth of her years, characteristic of someone who is not yet a mother, but who carries the light of the world within herself”. The Rosary in red recalls “the spirituality of the Portuguese people in their devotion to Our Lady of Fatima”.
The young people of the Salesian Youth Movement, the Youth Ministry Sector of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, and the Youth Ministry Department of the Salesians of Don Bosco, continue the journey of preparation from Panama to Lisbon with the following annual themes:
– XXXV WYD, 2020: “Young man, I tell you, get up!” (Lk 7:14)
– XXXVI WYD, 2021: “Get up! I appoint you as a witness of what you have seen!” (At 26:16)
– XXXVII WYD, 2023 (Lisbon) “Mary got up and went in haste.” (Lk 1:39)
The three themes are linked by the invitation to young people to “get up” and to respond to the call of the Lord to spread the Good News. Mary’s ‘yes’ becomes a lifestyle transformed into service to others, especially in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pope Francis encourages young people to let themselves be touched by the strength of the risen Lord and to recover their inner vitality, dreams, enthusiasm, optimism, and generosity, which are characteristic youthful traits.
