At the end of the Sending Mass, Pope Francis made the official announcement about the next World Youth Day (WYD). For some Seoul was a big surprise, for others it was just a confirmation after much speculation.
South Korea’s capital will host the Pope’s biggest event with youth in 2027. This is big news, as the last time a Pope was in Asia for a WYD was in 1995, when Manila hosted Pope John Paul II.
It’s real, WYD will be in South Korea
This year, due to many knowing about the possibility of the Koreans being the next hosts, whenever a South Korean group passed by, it attracted the media, young people, aroused curiosity, and of course, was always a reason for a self, ‘changes’ (exchange of souvenirs).
A delegation of the South Korean Church is in Lisbon, led by Peter Chung Soon-taick, a South Korean prelate of the Catholic Church, current Archbishop of Seoul and who received from Francis’ hands the WYD cross, (the 3.8 meter high pilgrim’s cross, built for the 1983 Holy Year and entrusted by Wojtyla to young people to carry it around the world).
Francis already visited the country in August 2014, with the mission of making a call for peace and unity for the Korean people.
YouthSh already preparing to invade Seoul
The Shalom Youth Project is part of the General Organizing Committee of WYD, so when they heard about the next location they were very happy, after all, as Bertrand Wadi, Youth Advisor, says, “we have a pilgrim spirit. Wherever Christ and the successor of Peter are, there will also be young people, and above all, the Shalom Youth,” he exclaims.
The WYD in Seoul has already been welcomed by the Shalom Youth and is already an intention of the Youth Advisory. “St. Joseph is already looking at us and motivating us. Because there is no distance that can prevent a young person from wanting to do God’s will,” says Bertrand.
The Youth Advisor still believes that young people will have a great experience in visiting a new continent, seeing how the experience of faith is in the South Korean capital; “It is something unthinkable, South Korea holding a World Youth Day, and that is where God will surprise us, showing that even the ends of the earth, He can attract hearts to His Son, Jesus. This will impact us for sure”, he concludes.
A brief history of WYD
“A Church for all” is something the Pope always says, and this ecclesial movement leads young people to go out of themselves and meet the least assisted.
The first edition of World Youth Day took place in 1986 in Rome and has since passed through the following cities: Buenos Aires (1987), Santiago de Compostela (1989), Czestochowa (1991), Denver (1993), Manila (1995), Paris (1997), Rome (2000), Toronto (2002), Cologne (2005), Sydney (2008), Madrid (2011), Rio de Janeiro (2013), Krakow (2016), Panama (2019) and Lisbon (2023).
Now see you in South Korea in 2027, are you ready?