The 23rd World Youth Day was a Catholic youth festival that started on 15 July and continued until 20 July 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It was the first World Youth Day held in Australia and the first World Youth Day in Oceania. This meeting was decided by Pope Benedict XVI, during the Cologne World Youth Day of 2005. The theme was "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you" (from Acts 1:8).
About 500,000 young people from 200 countries attended during the week, and more than 1,000,000 came for the weekend. They were joined by about 600 bishops and cardinals, as well as by 6,600 reporters.
Schedule of events
The festivals of WYD began on 1 July 2007, when a large 3.8-meter-high wooden cross and a large 15-kilogram icon of the Virgin Mary arrived in Sydney to travel around the country. The relay-style event, known as the Journey of the Cross and Icon (or JCI for short) saw the cross and icon go on a pilgrimage around the dioceses of Australia, engaging with a variety of Catholic parishes and communities.
World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Roman Catholic Church.
World Youth Day was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985. For the first celebration of WYD in 1986, bishops all over the world were invited to schedule an annual youth event to be held every Palm Sunday in their dioceses. It is celebrated at the diocesan level annually, and at the international level every two to three years at different locations. The 1995 World Youth Day closing Mass in the Philippines set a world record for the largest number of people gathered for a single religious event (with 5 million attendees)— a record surpassed when 6 million attended a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in the Philippines 20 years later in 2015.
The Church designated Saint John Paul II and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta as the patron saints of the event.
Traditional process
World Youth Day is commonly celebrated in a way similar to many events. The most emphasized and well known traditional theme is the unity and presence of numerous different cultures. Flags and other national declarations are displayed among, mainly young people to show their attendance at the events and proclaim their own themes of Catholicism. Such is usually done through chants and singing of other national songs involving a Catholic theme.
The 20th World Youth Day (German: XX. Weltjugendtag Köln) was a Catholic youth festival that started on August 16 and continued until August 21, 2005 in Cologne, Germany. It was the first World Youth Day and foreign trip of Pope Benedict XVI, who joined the festival on August 18. This meeting was decided by the previous pope, John Paul II, during the Toronto World Youth Day of 2002. The theme was "We have come to worship Him" (from Matthew 2:2).
About 400,000 young people from 200 countries attended during the week, and more than 1,000,000 came for the weekend. They were joined by about 600 bishops and cardinals, as well as by 6,600 reporters.
The Pope's Apostolic Journey to Germany
Originally, Pope John Paul II was to attend the World Youth Day in Cologne. After he died earlier in 2005, it was instead his successor Pope Benedict XVI's first apostolic journey. Most pilgrims to the World Youth Day made their plans to come while John Paul II was still Pope, and had hoped to see him. Before Pope Benedict XVI led the central mass, he met with several politicians and others.
World Youth Day 2016 (WYD 2016) is an international Catholic event focused on religious faith and youth, due to be celebrated from July 25–31, 2016 in Kraków, Poland. This was announced by Pope Francis at the end of the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
World Youth Day 2016 will be the second World Youth Day to be held in Poland, now as a tribute to Pope John Paul II, who was canonized on 27 April 2014, and his devotion to the Merciful Jesus (Divine Mercy devotion) based on Saint Mary Faustina Kowalska apparitions and message.
Announcement
Pope Francis announced at the end of closing mass for World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro that Kraków, Poland will be the venue for World Youth Day 2016. This will be the second World Youth Day hosted by Poland, the first being held in Czestochowa from 10–15 August 1991.
According to Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Metropolitan Bishop of the Diocese of Kraków, World Youth Day 2016 will be particularly significant, as Kraków was the home of Saint John Paul II. As he is such a popular saint in Poland, Cardinal Dziwisz said that the news of hosting another World Youth Day has been met with "enthusiasm", and all the Catholic dioceses in Poland will be supporting the event.