Youth
The Youth Office of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life—once known as the Youth Section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity—was established in 1986 by John Paul II to give visibility and concreteness to the importance that the Pope and the whole Church attribute to the world of the young.
Within the universal Church, the Youth Office publicizes the Holy Father’s initiatives; it is at the service of the Episcopal Conferences in the field of youth ministry; it addresses youth movements, associations, and international communities, promoting collaboration and meetings between the various ecclesial realities; and it organizes conferences on youth ministry at international and continental levels.
The central element of its activity is the preparation of the international World Youth Days (WYD) that, every two or three years in different countries, gather hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world around the Pope. The WYD, established by John Paul II in 1985, also plans annual celebrations in local churches.
On behalf of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, the Youth Office finally supports the activities of the San Lorenzo International Youth Center, which is entrusted with the mission of welcoming and evangelizing young people who go to Rome to study or on pilgrimage.
News
WYD
“Rejoicing in hope” and “Those who hope in the Lord will run and not be weary” are the thems chosen by the Holy Father
The Holy Father has chosen the themes of the two World Youth Days that will be celebrated in the particular Churches in 2023 and 2024, on the Solemnity of Christ the King, and that will mark ...
WYD Lisbon 2023
In a video message, the Holy Father calls on young people to be "missionaries, sowers and witnesses" of what they experienced in Lisbon last August
“You still cherish the memory of the Day, don't you? It is a memory that is not to be packed away or left alone in photo albums. It should be a living memory, and you have to keep it alive”. ...
WYD Lisbon 2023
Pope Francis' missionary mandate and the two next appointments with young people
Being transfigured, enlightened, by the encounter with the Lord. Pope Francis' mandate to the world's 1.5 million young people coincides with the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, ...