WYD08 :: Home :: About WYD08

USEFUL LINKS

Buy your WYD08 photos >>

Download free WYD08 images >>

Watch WYD08 events online >>

Activ8 Witness >>

History of WYD

World Youth Day established by Pope John Paul II in 1986 as an annual event to reach out to the youth of the world. He was inspired by massive gatherings of young people in Rome celebrating the Youth Jubilee in 1984 and the United Nations International Year of Youth in 1985. He wanted to bring together young Catholics from around the globe to celebrate and learn about their faith on a more regular basis. Pope John Paul II saw WYD as away to reach out to the next generation of Catholics, to demonstrate confidence in them, to rejuvenate the Church and ensure that the core teachings of Christ are transmitted and lived. World Youth Day is a pilgrimage of faith, where young people from diverse backgrounds meet and experience the love of God. The first World Youth Day was held in Rome in 1986 on Palm Sunday. Each year since, World Youth Day has been celebrated at a Diocesan level on Palm Sunday.		Advertisement

Every two to three years, World Youth Day is taken to an international host city. The international World Youth Days are a week-long series of events attended by the Pope and hundreds of thousands of young people from all over the world.

The week culminates in a Final Mass celebrated by the Pope on the last day (the actual World Youth Day). Typically, it is the largest event of the week and, overseas, has drawn millions of people.

The Pontifical Council for the Laity (PCL) - a key Vatican body - is responsible for World Youth Days globally

World Youth Day has been held in the following host cities:

YEAR	CITY	COUNTRY	FINAL MASS FIGURE	THEME
1987 11-12 April	Buenos Aires	ARGENTINA	N/A	"We ourselves have known and put our faith in God's love towards ourselves" (1Jn 4:16)
1989 15-20 August	Santiago de Compostela	SPAIN	N/A	"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" (Jn 14:6)
1991 10-15 August	Czestochowa	POLAND	1.6 million	"You have received a spirit of sonship" (Rom 8:15)
1993 10-15 August	Denver	USA	500,000	"I came that they might have life, and have it to the full" (Jn 10:10)
1995 10-15 January	Manila	PHILIPPINES	4 million	"As the Father sent me, so am I sending you" (Jn 20: 21)
1997 19-24 August	Paris	FRANCE	1.2 million	"Teacher, where are you staying? Come and see" (cf. Jn 1:38-39)
2000 15-20 August	Rome Jubilee Year	ITALY	2 million	"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14)
2002 23-28 July	Toronto	CANADA	800,000	"You are the salt of the earth ... you are the light of the world" (Mt 5: 13,14)
2005 16-21 August	Cologne	GERMANY	1.2 million	"We have come to worship Him" (Mt 2,2)
2008 15-20 July	Sydney	AUSTRALIA	Expecting 500,000	"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1, 8)

The last WYD in Cologne featured:

435,000 registered pilgrims from 197 nations
23,000 volunteers from 120 nations
8,000 accredited media
800 Cardinals and Bishops