The international World Youth Day celebration takes place every 2-3 years, typically in the summer months and on a major scale. The next one of these will take place from Tuesday to Sunday, August 1 to 6, 2023, in Lisbon, Portugal with millions of people and Holy Father.  

The international festival of faith in Portugal in August 2023 will be a chance for pilgrims around the world to come together with young people from every continent to pray, worship, and celebrate the Catholic faith. See the International Celebration page for more information.

We invite all youth and young adults – in fact, every person age 16 to 35 in the United States – to join us. Whether you plan to travel to Lisbon, participate through digital media, or join your peers at one of many local celebrations taking place in dioceses across the country, we want you to be part of this moment in the life of the Church.

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone and Bishop Edward J. Burns
Chairman of the LMFLY Committee and WYD 2023 Episcopal Liaison
(see full USCCB statement here)
 

ANNUAL THEMES - 2019 to 2023

As the Church prepares for these gatherings - both annually and in Lisbon - the Holy Father has given us a four-year guide to mark our journey, under the guidance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose eternal youthful spirit is found at the heart of this multi-year progress. The themes should be seen as one unit that emerged from Pope Francis' Christus Vivit and his call to infuse the Church's ministries with young people with a vocational perspective that compels us to put our faith into action.

• 34th World Youth Day, 2019-2020: "I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).
• 35th World Youth Day, 2020-2021: "Young man, I say to you, arise!" (Lk 7:14).
• 36th World Youth Day, 2021-2022: "Stand up. I appoint you as a witness of what you have seen" (cf. Acts 26:16).
• 37th World Youth Day, 2022-2023: "Mary arose and went with haste" (Lk 1:39).

80% of Catholics who stop practicing their faith do so before their 23rd birthday, most while in college.  Don't be a statistic.
You CAN go to college without losing your way.
You CAN stay Catholic in college.
And YOU can be proud to do college the right way.
This is your LIFE. Be prepared.

Are you a high-school or college student? Do you know a college student? Real Life Catholic is proud to announce College Connection, a digital program aimed at helping college students protect what is most important: their Catholic faith.
REGISTER NOW

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We ask God's blessing on all of our Students who are going off to College for either the first time or are returning Students. 

Lord our God, send your Spirit upon these Students and their Teachers.  Fill them with your wisdom and blessings

Grant that during this academic year they may devote themselves to their studies and share what they have learned with others.

Please keep them safe.

Click Here for Father John's Homily for the 2019 College Mass

Thinking about a year of service?

For further information,
please contact
Sister Julie Fertsch, SSJ  - [email protected] or 732-406-7510


For website, click HERE