Hello, we are the pilgrims of Blessed Sacrament Parish! We are so excited to be going to meet with Pope Francis this summer for World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland.

Every World Youth Day, a group of us accompanied by a few young couples, parents, and volunteers take on this spiritual journey to meet with the Pope and to find out if God is calling us for a vocation in the church. For many of us this is a life changing experience and many of our community members have found out what the meaning of their lives are while on this pilgrimmage. This year, there are over 35 of us going.

We are from many different parts of the world and are part of the Neo Catechumenal Way in Vancouver, BC. There are other comunities from the Neo Catechumenal Way in other Parishes in the Vancouver area such as Canadian Martyrs, Guardian Angels, and Holy Cross. Some of us are from those communites as well. We invite you to be generous and support our journey and to get to know us better as we will update you on our history and progress tp World Youth Day 2016!

Below are some Photos of our previous World Youth Day pilgrimages!

Madrid

Rio

History Of World Youth Day

History Of World Youth Day

World Youth Day was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985. For the first celebration of WYD in 1986, bishops all over the world were invited to schedule an annual youth event to be held every Palm Sunday in their dioceses. It is celebrated at the diocesan level annually, and at the international level every two to three years at different locations. The 1995 World Youth Day closing Mass in the Philippines set a world record for the largest number of people gathered for a single religious event (with 5 million attendees)— a record surpassed when 6 million attended a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in the Philippines 20 years later in 2015.

The Church designated Saint John Paul II and Saint Teresa of Calcutta as the patron saints of the event.

Previous World Youth Days

1987 WYD was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1989 WYD took place in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. 1991 WYD was held in Czestochowa, Poland. 1993 WYD was celebrated in Denver, United States.

At WYD 1995, 5 million youths gathered at Luneta Park in Manila, Philippines, an event recognized as the largest crowd ever by the Guinness World Records.[2] In an initial comment immediately following the event, CardinalAngelo Amato, Prefect of theCongregation for the Causes of Saints, stated that over 4 million people had participated.[3]

1997 WYD was held in Paris, France. 2000 WYD took place in Rome, Italy. 2002 WYD was held in Toronto, Canada. 2005 WYD was celebrated in Cologne, Germany. Thomas Gabriel composed for the final Mass on 21 August 2005 the Missa mundi (Mass of the world), representing five continents in style and instrumentation, in a European Kyrie influenced by the style of Bach, a South American Gloria with guitars and pan flutes, an Asian Credo with sitar, an African Sanctus with drums, and an Australian Agnus Dei withdidgeridoos.[4]

Sydney, Australia, was chosen as the host of the 2008 World Youth Day celebrations. At the time it was announced in 2005, WYD 2008 was commended by the then Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, and the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell.[5]World Youth Day 2008 was held in Sydney, with the Papal Mass held on the Sunday at Randwick Racecourse.

The week saw pilgrims from all continents participate in the Days in the Diocese program hosted by Catholic dioceses throughout Australia and New Zealand. Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Sydney on 13 July 2008 at Richmond Air Force Base. Cardinal Pell celebrated the Opening Mass at Barangaroo (East Darling Harbour) with other activities including the re-enactment of Christ's passion during the Stations of the Cross and the pope's boat cruise through Sydney Harbour. Pilgrims participated in a variety of youth festivities including visits to St Mary's Cathedral, daily catechesis and Mass led by bishops from around the world, concerts, visits to the tomb of Saint Mary MacKillop, the Vocations Expo at Darling Harbour, received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and praying before theBlessed Sacrament during Adoration. The Mass and concert at Barangaroo saw an estimated crowd of 150,000.

The event attracted 250,000 foreign visiting pilgrims to Sydney, with an estimated 400,000 pilgrims attending Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI on 20 July.[6]

Following the celebration of Holy Mass at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on 20 July 2008, Pope Benedict XVI announced that the next International World Youth Day 2011 would be held in Madrid, Spain. This event was held from 16–21 August 2011.

There were nine official patron saints[12] for World Youth Day 2011 in addition to Blessed John Paul II: St. Isidore, St. John of the Cross, St. Maria de la Cabeza, St. John of Avila, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Rose of Lima, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Rafael Arnaiz, and St. Francis Xavier, patron of world missions. During his address to seminarians, Benedict announced that the Spanish mystic and patron of Spanish diocesan clerics, St. John of Avila, would become a "Doctor of the Church,"[13] a designation granted to only 34 saints throughout the twenty centuries of Church history.

An estimated 2,000,000 people attended an all-night vigil to complete the week, more than expected.

Since 2002, World Youth Day has been held every three years. After the 2011 event the next World Youth Day was scheduled a year earlier than usual, in 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in order to avoid any conflict with the2014 FIFA World Cup being held in 12 different host cities throughout Brazil and the 2016 Summer Olympics being held in Rio de Janeiro.

Pope Francis announced at the end of closing mass for World Youth Day 2013 that Kraków, Poland[14] will be the venue for World Youth Day 2016.