Panama is getting closer

Fifteen bishops and 900 young people; this is the Italian group attending the Panama meeting that will end with the visit of Pope Francis. However, already on January 16^th, five hundred young people will be at Chitré for events in the local dioceses (concerts, parties, prayers). A theme for each day: “Church of the Poor and the Martyrs”, ecology, family, Mother Mary.   These are some of the data communicated by Don Falabretti, Head of the National Service of the Italian Bishops Conference for the youth mission. The experience of “Casa Italia”, the reference centre for the young Italians, in the ‘E. Fermi’ Institute at the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, also the seat of the Italian catechesis.  Also for those staying in Italy, as in other European countries, meetings have been arranged with the possibility of watching the Panama days live. One example is that of the young people in some dioceses in Emilia Romagna who will gather together (on the 26^th and 27^th ) at the Unipol Arena in Bologna for the event “Live from Panama 2019”.

Panama is buzzing with activities related to the last logistical preparations and construction of the large structures for the final days in the presence of Pope Francis.  The 2019 WYD in Panama is an event which is rousing enormous interest throughout Central America (the last visit by a Pope was that of John Paul II in1983). Five thousand journalists have been registered so far.