A Reflection for World Youth Day. Find today’s readings here. It’s early afternoon in Lisbon, Portugal, on the opening day of World Youth Day 2023, and my mother has just sent me a text message.

“World Youth Day means precisely this: to search for an encounter with God, who entered the history of Mankind through the Paschal mystery of Jesus Christ,” Pope St. John Paul II said in 1986.

World Youth Day wrapped up Sunday, Aug. 6, having gathered 1.5 million young people from around the world. On this special summer episode of “Inside the Vatican,” America editors Ricardo da ...

This World Youth Day also featured thousands of young people encountering Christ in the sacrament of confession.On Aug. 4, there was a Via Crucis with young people.Sunday Mass on Aug. 6 brought ...

In 1985, Pope St. John Paul II initiated World Youth Day, an every-couple-of-years event meant to draw young Catholics together to celebrate, learn, and deepen their faith. Over the succeeding ...

Pope Francis waves to the crowd during a mass celebrating the 37th World Youth Day at the Parque Tejo in Lisbon, Portugal, on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) ...

“When I realized (World Youth Day 2023) would be in Lisbon, and that I could visit Fátima as well, it was a no-brainer to go,” she says, noting that her two youngest children, Kendra, 17, and ...

Pope Francis arrived in Portugal on Wednesday to open the first edition of World Youth Day since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of large gatherings, as he hopes to inspire the next ...