Youth

The Youth Area of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life—once known as the Youth Section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity established in 1986 by John Paul II - serves 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 Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life 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, in the Solemnity of Christ the King.

The Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life also 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
November 20, 2022, the Solemnity of Christ the King, XXXVII World Youth Day in the Particular Churches will be celebrated. The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life invites young people to experience it in tune with the World Day of the Poor

Since last year, the World Youth Day in the Particular Churches has been celebrated on the Solemnity of Christ the King, which coincides with the Sunday following the World Day of the Poor.  In ...

WYD
With a "click" on a tablet, the Holy Father is the first participant registered for the next World Youth Day, which will take place in Lisbon in August next year

  At the end of today's Angelus, flanked by youngs from Portugal who joined him at the window of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis made his online registration for WYD 2023. Dear young people, I ...

WYD
A dedication alongside the International Preparatory Meeting for World Youth Day Lisbon 2023

  During his trip to Fatima to participate in the International Preparatory Meeting for World Youth Day 2023, the Prefect of our Dicastery, Card.  Kevin Farrell, was accompanied by the ...