WYD: a dream from God´s heart

In 1984 Pope John Paul II organized a meeting. It was a meeting of love. It realized a dream God had and that young people held. It paired voices that needed to be heard with a heart ready to hear them.

World Youth Day (WYD), as the event was named in 1985, continues to be a global testimony of living and renewing faith. The event illustrates how the face of Christ is shown in each young person.

At the 1984 meeting the Pope presented the WYD Cross to the 300 000 or so young people who had gathered in Saint Peter’s Square. This meeting sparked subsequent gatherings with Pope John Paul II and the WYD Cross: in 1986 (Rome – Diocesan), 1987 (Buenos Aires, Argentina), 1989 (Santiago de Compostela, Spain), 1991(Czestochowa, Poland), 1993 (Denver, USA), 1995 (Manila, Philippines), 1997 (Paris, France), 2000 (Rome, Italy), and 2002 (Toronto, Canada). Pope Benedict XVI has continued this tradition in 2005 (Cologne, Germany), 2008 (Sydney, Australia) and 2011 (Madrid, Spain).

The host-cities of WYD have the opportunity to showcase themselves to the many pilgrims attending the event. They witness an event that unites hundreds of nationalities together in Christ. Difficulties, such as language and culture barriers may initially come across as problematic but then turn into bonding moments at WYD. At WYD young people come together in a meeting of love, dreams, and Christ.