The first World Youth Day to be hosted in a country where Christians are a minority will seek to instill young people with the courage to share the Gospel while fostering interreligious dialogue, organizers of the event said.

We first met on a bus to Auschwitz. I, Daniel, was the oldest and Irena the youngest in our cohort of pilgrims at World Youth Day  held in Kraków, Poland, in 2016. That experience forged an indelible older brother-little sister bond that endures. Seven years later, our respective discernment led us both to say yes to returning to WYD held this past summer in Lisbon, Portugal.

Some World Youth Day pilgrims in Portugal were critical of Pope Francis for failing to condemn Russia������Ƶapp brutal invasion of their homeland.

Message of thanks from Pope Francis to the volunteers of World Youth Day XXXVII during his Apostolic Journey to Portugal.

After a five-day trip to Portugal, which recently came to terms with its own clerical sex abuse crisis, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church must abandon its practice of covering up abuse and instead be "very open" about how it is confronting the crime.

Fifteen World Youth Day pilgrims from Ukraine, most of whom had lost a father or other close relative in the war, had a private meeting with Pope Francis Aug. 3.

Arriving at the edge of the European continent for World Youth Day, Pope Francis urged Portuguese officials to return to their maritime roots by setting sail toward new horizons of hope and helping build a Europe "capable of recovering its youthful heart."

Joyful, singing crowds were walking through Lisbon long after the opening Mass of World Youth Day 2023 was over Aug. 1. The atmosphere surprised even those that lived in the Portuguese capital throughout their lives.

With 80% of people identifying as Catholic, Portugal is among the countries with the highest church presence in Europe. The signs of the nation's intimate relationship with Catholicism are visible all across Lisbon, where thousands of youth have already arrived for World Youth Day. Pope Francis is joining them Aug. 2-6.

Less than 24 hours before her departure for Portugal on July 13, Isabel Correa, national coordinator for the Canadian delegation to World Youth Day (WYD), appeared to exemplify something of the Biblical verse that is the theme for this year������Ƶapp pilgrimage, “Mary arose and went with haste.”