HISTORY OF WYD

World Youth Day was an initiative of Pope John Paul II, who was inspired by massive gatherings of young people in Rome celebrating the Youth Jubilee in 1984 and the United Nations International Year of Youth in 1985. He wanted to bring together young Catholics from around the globe to celebrate and learn about their faith on a more regular basis.

Pope John Paul II saw WYD as away to reach out to the next generation of Catholics, to demonstrate confidence in them, to rejuvenate the Church and ensure that the core teachings of Christ are transmitted and lived.

There are four main goals for the host nation in staging the largest event for the Catholic Church in Australia:

• To provide a moving and sanctifying pilgrimage in faith
• To provide the forum for youth to experience the power of the Holy Spirit
• To assist the rediscovery of the centrality of the Word and Sacraments in the lives of the young people
• To enable youth to be witnesses to Christ

The first World Youth Day was held in Rome in 1986 on Palm Sunday. Each year since, World Youth Day has been celebrated at a Diocesan level on Palm Sunday.

Every two to three years, a massive international gathering celebrates WYD in a different 'host city' - Cologne, Buenos Aires, Czestochowa, Paris, Toronto, Manila and Denver have all been hosts. The international World Youth Days are marked by a week-long series of events, attended by the Pope and hundreds of thousands of youth from all over the world.

At the most recent World Youth Day in 2005 in Cologne, the German people saw a witness of faith, hope and love on an unbelievable scale when it welcomed:

- 435,000 registered pilgrims from 197 countries

- 800 Bishops and Cardinals

- 7000 international journalists

An incredible 1.2 million people attended the Final Mass.