5,000 Canadian Youth Join Pope Francis in Portugal for WYD

Date posted on July 24, 2023

More than 5,000 Canadian Youth are making their way to Lisbon, Portugal to be with Pope Francis, from 2 to 6 August 2023. The Holy Father will join more than one million young people for World Youth Day (WYD), an international gathering of youth, organized by the Catholic Church. The first international World Youth Day was held in 1986, and the event was hosted by Canada in 2002, with Pope Saint John Paul II making the pilgrimage to Toronto.

“This is an opportunity for young people to celebrate their faith, meet other youth from around the world and to have a special encounter with Pope Francis,” said Isabel Correa, National Coordinator of the Canadian delegation to the World Youth Day 2023. “Over time, we have heard and seen the powerful experience that World Youth Day has been in the lives of so many Canadian youth and we expect that this year’s pilgrimage will be no different. It is a transformative and inspiring moment that they will cherish for years to come.”

Read the full press release from the Canadian Conference for Catholic Bishops by clicking here.

Follow along with our pilgrims journeying to Lisbon by clicking here.