The next World Youth Day event has been postponed for one year, to August 2023, due to the pandemic. Pope Francis accepted the recommendation of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, responsible for the organization of this event and the World Meeting of Families.
Launched by Pope John Paul II in 1984, this initiative of the Catholic Church brings together young people from all over the world. It provides stimulating experiences for participants who come to bear witness to their faith: moments of sharing, encounter, exchange, prayer, formation, discovery and celebration.
Even though all the international meetings of the Dicastery were cancelled until January 2021, the World Youth Day cross presentation ceremony was kept on the calendar for November 22. In the event that international travel would still be limited, young people from Panama, already living in Rome, could make this symbolic passage to the representatives of Portugal, host of the next meeting in 2023.
The three themes selected as part of the preparatory process for this event are:
35th World Youth Day, 2020
2020: “Young man, I say to you, arise!” (Lk 7:14).
36th World Youth Day, 2021
2021: Stand up. I appoint you as a witness of what you have seen. (cf. Acts 26:16)
37th World Youth Day, 2022 (Lisbon)
2022: “Mary arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39)