By Justin McLellan
Pope Francis told young people to always “look to the horizon” and open their hearts to other peoples and cultures.
In a video message to the 400,000 participants registered for World Youth Day 2023, Pope Francis encouraged young people not to “put up walls” that close them in but to “thirst for the horizon” that makes them grow.
World Youth Day is scheduled to take place in Lisbon, Portugal, 1 to 6 August 2023.
Pope Francis will attend the event and even publicly registered as a participant with the help of two Portuguese college students after praying the Angelus in St Peter’s Square in October.
In the video released 20 January, Pope Francis said that even if some young people say they are going to Lisbon “only for tourism,” each person attending World Youth Day is going “because deep down, they are craving to participate, to share, to tell their experience and receive the experience of others.”
“Open your heart to other cultures, to other young men and women” attending World Youth Day, he told them.
The motto for this year’s World Youth Day is a passage from the Luke’s Gospel: “Mary arose and went with haste.”
In his formal message for WYD 2023, published in September, Pope Francis said that the figure of Mary shows young people “the path of closeness and encounter” at a time when “our human family, already tested by the trauma of the pandemic, is racked by the tragedy of war.”
Perth – Local Information
Catholic Youth Ministry Perth has now commenced planning for the August 2023 international event.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Perth invites you to join millions of young pilgrims from around the world to the next World Youth Day, which will be held in Lisbon, Portugal in August 2023. We have partnered with Harvest Journeys to make your WYD experience a truly memorable and possibly even a life-changing one!
If you are interested in journeying with other young adults from Perth, please take the time to register your interest. We will be in touch with you to keep you up to date with all things WYD and to get you registered and ready to go!
To register your interest https://www.cym.com.au/wyd
View the Tour Package https://wydjourneys.com/tour/wyd-direct-a/
Visit the World Youth Day Lisbon 2023 Website https://www.lisboa2023.org/en