World Youth Day celebrates 40th anniversary (Photos) aleteia.org

A Way of the Cross in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday evening, and two Masses, one celebrated by Portuguese Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça on Saturday, and the other by South Korean Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik on Sunday: through these celebrations that took place over the weekend in Rome, a symbolic bridge was created between the 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon and the 2027 WYD in Seoul, while also commemorating the 40th anniversary of John Paul II launching this event.

Cardinal Mendonça reflected that these youth gatherings are “indispensable moments in the life of the Church.”

“In proclaiming WYD, St. John Paul II dreamed of a youth in love with Christ,” he declared, before a moment of testimonies and prayers around the Cross this weekend…

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