World Youth Day 2016

World Youth Day 2016

Logo of the World Youth Day 2016
Date	July 25, 2016 (2016-07-25) - July 31, 2016 (2016-07-31)
Location	Kraków, Poland
Type	Youth festival
Theme	Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy." (Mt 5:7)
Organised by	Catholic Church
Participants	Pope Francis

The three figures of the World Youth Day 2016: The image of Merciful Jesus (Divine Mercy devotion), Saint Faustina and Saint John Paul II

World Youth Day 2016 (WYD 2016) is an international Catholic event focused on faith and youth, due to be celebrated from July 25–31, 2016 in Kraków, Poland, organised by the Catholic Church. It is the third WYD in Central Europe.

Pope Francis announced at the end of the closing Mass of the previous World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro that Kraków, Poland will be the venue for World Youth Day 2016. This will be the second World Youth Day hosted by Poland, the first being the World Youth Day 1991 held in Czestochowa.

According to Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kraków, World Youth Day 2016 will be particularly significant as a tribute to Saint Pope John Paul II, founder of the World Youth Day, as Kraków was his home. As he is such a popular saint in Poland, canonized on 27 April 2014, Cardinal Dziwisz said that the news of hosting another World Youth Day in Poland has been met with "enthusiasm", and all Catholic dioceses in Poland will be supporting the event. Special activities will relate to the former Pope's devotion to the Merciful Jesus (Divine Mercy devotion) based on Saint Mary Faustina Kowalska apparitions and message.

Activities

Polish pilgrims celebrate the announcement (2013) that the World Youth Day 2016 will take place in Kraków, Poland.

Preparations

More than 70 priests took part in a meeting on 10 September 2013 dedicated to the spiritual aspects of the preparations to WYD Krakow 2016. They represented all Polish dioceses and the local organizing committee in Krakow. Bishop Henryk Tomasik, national coordinator for youth pastoral care, presented main ideas that will take place before the actual WYD week, particularly the peregrination of the icon Salus Populi Romani and the WYD Cross. Young Poles will take over the Cross from young Brazilians on Palm Sunday, 13 April 2014. The Polish group will consist of 100 representatives of all the dioceses (approximately two persons per diocese). The following day the Cross starts its peregrination in the Archdiocese of Poznan. The Cross will stay in every diocese for 20 days and ends its pilgrimage in Krakow. The Cross will be present not only in churches and chapels but in schools, prisons for youth, and universities as well.

Pilgrimages

Salus Populi Romani.

Pilgrimage of the Cross and Icon will take place through Poland and in other European countries: Belarus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

Dates	Dioceses of Poland/Country
Departure: April 13, 2014	Rome, Italy
April 14-May 3, 2014	Poznań
May 4-17, 2014	Kalisz
May 18-30, 2014	Włocławek
May 31-June 5, 2014	Rome, Italy
June 6-7, 2014	Lednica
June 8-14, 2014	Warszawa Praga
June 15-28, 2014	Siedlce
June 29-July 12, 2014	Belarus
July 13-26, 2014	Lithuania
July 27-August 9, 2014	Latvia
August 10-September 5, 2014	Russia
September 6-October 4, 2014	Ukraine
October 5-18, 2014	Moldova
October 19-November 1, 2014	Romania
November 2-15, 2014	Hungary
November 16 - 29, 2014	Slovakia
November 30 - December 13, 2014	Czech Republic
December 14, 2014 - January 3, 2015	Opole
January 4 – 17, 2015	Katowice
January 18 – 31, 2015	Gliwice
February 1–14, 2015	Kielce
February 15–28, 2015	Sosnowiec
March 1–14, 2015	Bielsko - Biała
March 15–28, 2015	Częstochowa
March 28–29, 2015	Pelplin
March 30 - April 18, 2015	Radom
April 19 - May 2, 2015	Sandomierz
May 3–16, 2015	Zamość
May 17–30, 2015	Przemyśl
May 30–31, 2015	Piekary Śląskie
June 1–11, 2015	Rzeszów
June 12–14, 2015	National Missionary Congress (Warszawa)
June 15–27, 2015	Ełk
June 28 - July 11, 2015	Białystok
July 12–25, 2015	Łomża
July 26 - August 8, 2015	Drohiczyn
August 9–21, 2015	Warszawa Praga
August 22 - September 5, 2015	Lublin
September 6–19, 2015	Płock
September 19–20, 2015	Biały Bór (Gr-kat. Wrocławsko-Gdańska)
September 20 - October 3, 2015	Łowicz
October 4–17, 2015	Łódź
October 18 - November 3, 2015	Warszawa
November 4–14, 2015	Olsztyn
November 15–28, 2015	Elbląg
November 29 - December 12, 2015	Gdańsk
December 13–26, 2015	Pelplin
December 27, 2015 - January 9, 2016	Toruń
January 10–23, 2016	Bydgoszcz
January 24 - February 6, 2016	Koszalin
February 7–20, 2016	Szczecin
February 21 - March 5, 2016	Zielona Góra
March 6–19, 2016	Legnica
March 20 - April 2, 2016	Świdnica
April 3–16, 2016	Wrocław
April 17–30, 2016	Gniezno
May 1–14, 2016	Tarnów
May 15–19, 2016	Gr-kat. Przemysko-Warszawska
May 20 - July 31, 2016	Kraków

"Ticket for your Brother"

A new project called "Ticket for your Brother" is aimed at helping young people from former communist countries to take part in the events by buying small souvenirs, icons, and gadgets of WYD.

Monthly mass

In the Holy Cross Church, in Krakow, there is a Holy Mass solemnly celebrated at 6:00 PM, every 16th day of each month, for the intention of good spiritual preparations of WYD Krakow 2016. It is an initiative of the Krakow Archdiocese's WYD coordination headquarters office, whose main aim is to prepare the archdiocesan youth for the future events in 2016.

Papal visit itinerary

The Holy See has released the official schedule for Pope Francis's Apostolic Journey to Poland for World Youth Day 2016 in Krakow.

Organisation

Archibishop Stanisław Dziwisz, head of the organisational committee and the coordination of the local preparations in Krakow, Poland.

Auxiliary bishop Damian Muskus.

Committee

The Polish diocesan bishops (ordinaries) decided on 26 Aug 2013 during their meeting in Czestochowa to form the Polish Organizing Committee for the Papal Apostolic Journey WYD 2016. Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz was elected as head of the committee and the coordination of the local preparations in Krakow are to be led by his auxiliary bishop Damian Muskus. The organising committee consists also of Archbishop Józef Michalik, President of the Polish Bishops Conference, Archbishop Emeritus Józef Kowalczyk of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno (the former Primate of Poland), Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Warsaw, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Poznań, Archbishop Wacław Depo of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Czestochowa, Bishop Wojciech Polak, the Secretary of the Polish Bishops Conference and Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Radom, and Henryk Tomasik, the National Coordinator for Pastoral Care for the Youth. In the near future several working committees are expected to be formed and in every Polish diocese the official coordinators for WYD plan to be soon nominated.

Local committee in Krakow

Bishop Damian Muskus, head of the local organizational committee in Krakow, presented on Sept 2 2013 the secretariate of the committee. The works of the secretariate are led by rev. Robert Tyrala and his deputy is rev. Mateusz Hosaja. Two more lay person will join the secretariate in the near future, one of them from the organizational committee of WYD in Rio 2013. The process of creating a complete local organizational committee will take approximately 1 month.

Online

The Archdiocese of Kraków has launched an official website for World Youth Day 2016: www.krakow2016.com

In addition, the event already has a strong social media presence, with pages launched on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google+, Ask, Weebly, Flickr and YouTube.

Locations

The Divine Mercy Shrine.

There are four possible locations for the future celebrations in Kraków during WYD 2016: Błonia (the park close to the city center), Pobiednik airport, Przylasek Rusiecki fields and military area in Pychowice. The Stations of the Cross are said to be held at the Divine Mercy Shrine.

Legacy of Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II in Poland for World Youth Day 1991.

Karol Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II) was born in Wadowice on 18 May 1920, but he identified Kraków as his homeland: "Here, in this land, I was born. Here, in Kraków, I spent the greater part of my life... Here, I received the grace of my priestly vocation... I was consecrated Bishop in the Cathedral of Wawel."

World Youth Day began with Pope John Paul II's invitation to young people in 1984 to come to Rome for Palm Sunday. More than 300,000 turned out for the celebration. The following year - 1985 - coincided with the United Nations International Year of Youth. Then on December 20, the Pope announced the first official WYD meeting for 1986. The 2016 World Youth Day in Kraków will mark 30-years since first official World Youth Day gathering.

World Youth Day played a special role in John Paul II's papacy, and both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have carried on the World Youth Days instituted by John Paul II – as a symbol of hope for young people.

External links

• Official World Youth Day 2016 website
• World Youth Day 2016 resources on Xt3.com
• Krakow as a European center of religious tourism
• Countdown to freedom: John Paul II’s place in history