Forty-five thousand sign up for WYD only a few hours after Pope Francis – Meeting on the field of mercy
Less than 24 hours
after registration opened for next year’s World Youth Day (WYD), 45,000 people
had already signed up. The first to register was Pope Francis himself who had
previously announced that the theme of the meeting would revolve around mercy.
According to the website’s managers, thus far there are 250 “macrogroups” and
300 volunteers signed up. The countdown
to the event is already surrounded by great enthusiasm. In exactly one year —
from 26 to 31 July 2016 — young people will meet in Krakow for
the 31st WYD.
Twenty five years after its start, WYD will return to
Poland, the land of the Pontiff who created it. Even if Pope Wojty?a loved to
say that “it was the young people themselves who invented WYD”. In 1991 in
Cz?stochowa, a strong wind of faith was announced to the young people and from
them the faith blew beyond the iron curtain. The young Christians of eastern
and western Europe experienced the first large-scale encounter after the fall
of the Berlin Wall. Pope Wojty?a
returned to his homeland for WYD which saw the participation of more
than one million people.
A true jubilee of young people will be celebrated on a
global level. Pope Francis recalled this at the Angelus and Cardinal Stanis?aw
Ry?ko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, also underlined it in
a message published on the dicastery’s website. The theme of WYD is “Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” is part of the extraordinary
holy year which will begin on 8 December. WYD in Krakow will complete a three
part series of themes dedicated to the
Beatitudes. The theme in Rio in 2014 was “Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. This year’s theme for the 30th
WYD on the diocesan level is “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see
God”.