Preparations for World Youth Day in Seoul, South Korea, entered a new phase March 5 when organizers held their first global meeting, according to Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News).
World Youth Day Seoul 2027 will take place from July 29 to Aug. 8, 2027.
The online “Kick-off Meeting for the Implementation Phase” was hosted by the World Youth Day Seoul Local Organizing Committee and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life. About 245 youth leaders and representatives from bishops’ conferences, ecclesial movements, and Catholic communities from around the world participated.
Archbishop Peter Soon-taick Chung, president of the local organizing committee, said the gathering aims to help young people encounter both God and one another.
The event should be “a place where young people discover that they are not alone, encounter God and one another, and are sent back to their daily lives renewed in faith,” Archbishop Chung said during the meeting.
He described Seoul as “a city where tradition and the future meet, where hospitality and community are lived, and where peace is deeply longed for.”
According to the report, the archbishop also outlined four themes intended to guide preparations for the international youth event: encounter, pastoral care, pilgrimage, and mission.
Father Franco Galdino, youth coordinator for the dicastery, said in the meeting that World Youth Day represents “a shared journey in which the Church accompanies young people toward an encounter with Christ.”
Organizers also presented the event’s pastoral and spiritual vision, along with practical plans, including the pilgrimage of the World Youth Day symbols, communications strategies, and outreach to international participants.
The organizing committee introduced nine participation packages for pilgrims based on various meal and accommodation options. Organizers said packages will cost about 10% more than previous editions because of global inflation and local expenses, though they aim to keep costs manageable for young pilgrims, according to the report.
World Youth Day, introduced by Pope John Paul II in 1985, brings together young Catholics from around the world for prayer, pilgrimage, cultural exchange, and catechesis.
The most recent gathering took place in Lisbon, Portugal, in August 2023. More than 300,000 young people from about 200 countries attended events during the week, while the closing Mass celebrated by Pope Francis drew an estimated 1.5 million participants.