Pope Heads to WYD to Meet Faithful, but Adviser Says Youth Will Also Help Him

As Pope Francis heads to Lisbon Aug. 2 for World Youth Day, an event often dubbed the “Catholic Woodstock” due to the large and celebratory crowds it always draws, he faces the unique challenge of revitalizing the faith amid growing European secularism and progressively empty pews in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Importance of World Youth Day

In 1993, Saint John Paul II came to Denver, Colorado, for World Youth Day. It was covered by the media, both Catholic and secular, and by all accounts, it was a peaceful, joyful, inspirational experience. 

It’s Impossible to Know Jesus and Not Follow Him

Just before my ordination 15 years ago, one of my aunts gave me a beautiful gift — a framed image of Jesus with a Spanish inscription: “A Jesucristo es imposible conocerle y no amarle, amarle y no seguirle.”

The Liturgical Act And the Experience

I suppose that all words have a history. In dialoguing with students in philosophy classes at St. John’s University I have found that words such as “subjective,” “objective,” “experience,” “faith,” and some others, I almost always have to either ask the students what they mean by those terms or explain what I mean when I use those terms.