WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- When Pope Francis arrives in Lisbon for World Youth Day 2023, there will be plenty of pilgrims from the U.S. ready to greet him -- close to 29,000.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced July 24 that more than 28,600 individuals, most between the ages of 18 and 25, and more than 60 U.S bishops will be on hand for the Aug. 1-6 gathering. While registration numbers have not yet been finalized (and in fact are rising, said the bishops' conference), the U.S. is set to have one of the five largest delegations at World Youth Day.
"Our country is very much looking forward to this pilgrimage," said Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, which oversees the U.S. involvement in World Youth Day. Bishop Barron, along with 60 other U.S. bishops, will be accompanying young people to Lisbon.
In a statement, Bishop Barron described World Youth Day as "a wonderful occasion for young adults to have a significant encounter with Jesus Christ in the company of the universal Church."
The event is "also a moment when the Holy Father and the Church's leadership get an opportunity to listen to the young people present, teach and form them in the Gospel, and ultimately send them towards their vocation and mission in the world," he said.
U.S. pilgrims will stay in parishes, campuses, homes and hotels around Lisbon during the World Youth Day week, taking part in prayer, liturgies, daily catechesis, concerts, presentations, dialogue, service and networking with young adults from around the world.
More than 35 U.S. bishops will lead daily catechetical "Rise Up!" sessions.
U.S. pilgrims will gather Aug. 2 for an outdoor evening gathering organized by the USCCB in Lisbon's Parque da Quinta das Conchas. Music and testimony by young adults will be followed by a keynote address from Bishop Barron, who will then lead a Holy Hour with Bishop Edward J. Burns of Dallas as part of the USCCB's National Eucharistic Revival initiative.
Pope Francis will join the World Youth Day pilgrims Aug. 3 for a welcome ceremony in the city center. He will preside at a Way of the Cross Aug. 4 and a prayer vigil Aug. 5, and then celebrate the closing Mass Aug. 6, with an anticipated crowd of 1 million or more.
The USCCB's Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth recently collaborated with World Youth Day organizers in Lisbon and U.S.-based Oregon Catholic Press on the English version of the gathering’s official hymn, "Feel the Rush in the Air," which was released earlier this month.
Inaugurated by St. John Paul II in 1986, World Youth Day officially takes place every year as a "Global Celebration of Young People," which is now celebrated on Christ the King Sunday. In addition, a major international event is held every two to four years in a different location around the world.
Past World Youth Days have taken place in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1987); Santiago de Compostela, Spain (1989); Czestochowa, Poland (1991); Denver (1993); Manila, Philippines (1995); Paris (1997); Rome (2000); Toronto (2002); Cologne, Germany (2005); Sydney (2008); Madrid (2011); Rio de Janeiro (2013); Krakow, Poland (2016); and Panama City (2019).
For more information, please visit the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ web page for World Youth Day: www.wydusa.org.
All are invited to follow the U.S. pilgrims on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with hashtags #JMJLisboa23 and #wydusa.
People can listen to the official World Youth Day hymn, "Feel the Rush in the Air," at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxdYqZ9N-EI.
