By Elizabeth Krump In July 2008, the streets of Sydney, Australia were transformed with a swell of nearly one million young pilgrims. Despite an influx of youth, there was no vandalism, fear or fights as a result. This group of young people had gathered in solidarity to celebrate their Catholic faith at the invitation of ...read more

Vatican City, 6 February 2014 (VIS) – We publish below the full text of the message the Holy Father has sent to the young people preparing for the 29th World Youth Day 2014, which will take as its theme: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Dear Young Friends, ...read more

By Elizabeth Krump “Keep the youth close to you: they will keep you young and faithful.” These are telling words that Blessed John Paul II shared with Fr. Thomas Rosica in the later days of his pontificate. John Paul II had a great love for all young people, until the very end of his life. There ...read more

In light of the 20th anniversary of World Youth Day Denver, which drew more than 750,000 people to the Mile High City, I’m sharing the following photos from Catholic News Service with you. Many priests, religious and lay people attribute their vocations to an experience they had at Denver. In fact, reflecting 20 years later ...read more

Those were the three thoughts Pope Francis left with us during the Closing Mass on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. This was the climax of the week, when we gather for the source and summit of our Faith. And after a week of surprises and simple, yet powerful messages, these three thoughts summarised it ...read more

The final days of World Youth Day Rio were an exercise is letting God surprise us all. Days of rain made the field at Guaratiba unusable and the final events were moved to Copacabana Beach. Cariocas (residents of Rio) are used to having parties on the beach. They have two giant parties there every year: ...read more

The Papal Welcoming Ceremony kicks off what some call the World Youth Day Triduum. The event is celebrated on the Thursday evening before the Way of the Cross (Friday evening), Vigil (Saturday evening) and Closing Mass (Sunday morning). The Papal Welcome is a highlight for many pilgrims; there’s always lots of excitement and given that ...read more

As far as I can tell in our day and age, only church councils and papal transitions can attract the kind of global attention for the Catholic Church that is both honest and positive.  While working in Rome in February and March of 2013, I was struck by this reality and by how the intrigue ...read more

Returning home after World Youth Day Rio 2013 there were several things I didn’t miss: the long walk from our accommodations to the media centre because traffic was closed, the language barrier, and the weather that fluctuated between hot beach weather, and damp, winter rain. One thing I discovered I really do miss the incredible ...read more

Pilgrims have returned home, Copacabana Beach has been cleaned and Rio de Janeiro has returned to business as usual, but in the hearts of everyone something has changed. Something has to have changed. This has been my fourth international World Youth Day and every time, something changes. Perhaps it’s an insight, perhaps an emotion or ...read more