Lisbon (Portugal). On 4 October 2021, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the date of the XXXVII World Youth Day (WYD) of Lisbon, in Portugal is announced. The meeting of young people from all over the world with the Pope will be held from 1 to 6 August 2023.
“The announcement of the date of WYD on this day of St. Francis of Assisi, is an important moment for everyone. It has been a long time that young people from all over the world desired to know the date of WYD Lisbon 2023 in order to prepare in detail for going to Lisbon. We hope that the 22 months leading up to WYD will be a time of evangelization for all,” said Cardinal Manuel Clemente, Patriarch of Lisbon.
The place and year of the XXXVII WYD were announced by Pope Francis on 27 January 2019, at the end of World Youth Day in Panama. The appointment in Lisbon, Portugal, was then postponed to August 2023, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over 400 volunteers are already working on the preparation for the event. In each of the 21 Dioceses of Portugal, Diocesan Organizing Commissions have been set up to promote the journey in preparation for WYD.
The theme that will accompany the XXXVII WYD is “Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste” (Lk 1: 39), hence the title of the official hymn presented in January 2021: Há Pressa no Ar (there is a rush in the air).
In the Video-presentation of WYD 2023 flow the dates and cities of the various editions of the Day, established in 1985 by Pope John Paul II: Rome (1986), Buenos Aires (1987), Santiago de Compostela (1989), Czestochowa (1991) ), Denver (1993), Manila (1995), Paris (1997), Rome (2000), Toronto (2002), Cologne (2005), Sidney (2008), Madrid (2011), Rio de Janeiro (2013), Krakow (2016), and Panama (2019).
I giovani del Movimento Giovanile Salesiano, con l’Ambito per la Pastorale Giovanile delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice e il Dicastero di PG dei Salesiani di Don Bosco, insieme ai giovani di tutto il mondo, continuano il cammino verso la GMG di Lisbona con la prossima tappa della XXXVI Giornata Mondiale della Gioventù 2021 sul tema “Alzati! Ti costituisco testimone di quel che hai visto!” (cfr. At 26,16) che si celebrerà il 21 novembre 2021, Solennità di Cristo Re dell’Universo, nelle Chiese locali di tutto il mondo.
Per approfondire: lisboa2023.org
