I couldn't help but notice that there wasn't much secular news coverage of this year's World Youth Day celebration in Lisbon. Maybe it's because the media couldn't twist Pope Francis' words out of context as easily as they usually do with our Holy Father? Throughout...
You might say that I’m a groupie. Beginning when I was sixteen, I attended four World Youth Days: Denver (1993), Manila (1995), Paris (1997), and Toronto (2002). My experience, along with millions of other young people, was transformative. The impact is still felt in...
My whole life, I have stated I am a member of the Catholic Church. I specifically remember learning in youth group that the word “catholic” meant universal, but the definition didn’t mean much to me until I partook in World Youth Day 2005. It was the summer before my...
What is World Youth Day? The first World Youth Day was celebrated in 1984 when Pope St. John Paul II created a gathering on Palm Sunday in Rome to celebrate the Youth Jubilee of the Holy Year of Redemption. It was expected that sixty thousand people would attend, but...
World Youth Day will take place August 1-6, 2023 in Lisbon. The motto chosen from Luke 1:39, "Mary arose and went with haste," is one that will speak to the hearts of the thousands of young people expected to join Pope Francis in prayer during this international faith...
World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, was a huge, week-long event with catechesis in multiple languages all over the city. I was blessed to be able to attend the English catechesis at the Mercy Center in the Tauron Stadium. All of the speakers were clear and able to...
This week the Church has been in the midst of World Youth Day (WYD)! World Youth Day was established because of the creative genius of St. John Paul II. His unique ability to perceive the needs of young people led him to invent this unique way of...
Millions of young Catholics are gathering from around the world to celebrate our faith this week. Undoubtedly, many will experience conversions, form much-needed spiritual friendships, and feel God's love in a whole new way. There will be an abundance of joy,...
If you're like me, you might be struggling just a tiny bit with envy as you watch Catholic social media explode over World Youth Day this week. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the international event that gathers millions of young Catholics from all parts of the...