14th Youth Ministry Forum of the Polish Church

A reflection on last summer’s WYD in Krakow, to assess the organization and the fruits; the launch of new projects in view of the 2019 World Youth Day in Panama; and the preparation of the local WYD in the different dioceses of the universal Church to be celebrated on Palm Sunday, next April 9th: these are the most challenging issues that will be discussed during the 14th National Youth Ministry Forum, organized in Drohiczyn, Poland, from 3 to 5 February.

The meeting is being organized mainly by the national office for the WYD of the Polish Bishops’ Conference. The Forum, to which all the representatives of the youth ministry of the Polish dioceses are invited, will also count with the presence of Father João Chagas, head of the Youth Section of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, who, during the last three years, has followed all the preparations for the World Youth Day in Krakow. He has the task of presenting, from the viewpoint of the Dicastery for the Laity, an evaluation of last July’s event—in which more than one million pilgrims participated—and a report on the first contacts with the reality of Panama, where the next WYD will be celebrated.

 The program, composed of five sessions, also includes deepening the call that Pope Francis addressed to the young, to avoid “sofa happiness,” that is “the paralysis that comes from confusing happiness with a sofa,” “a sofa that keeps us safe from any kind of pain and fear,” that “allows us to stay home without needing to work at, or worry about, anything,” “the silent paralysis … that can cause the greatest harm to young people” (Address to the young people at the Prayer Vigil on Campus Misericordiae in Krakow, 30 July 2016).