World Youth Day Logo

Join us for World Youth Day August 1 – 6, 2023

The Diocese of Covington is sponsoring a pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal, for youth and young adults, ages 16 and up.

Our youth, young adults, and their chaperones will have the opportunity to grow in their faith and experience the universality of the Catholic Church in the presence of our Holy Father, Pope Francis and alongside millions of young Catholics from around the world.

The cost is $3,700 per person and includes roundtrip airfare, transportation, lodging (within walking distance of main events), meals, tours and a day trip to Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima.

Registration for this event is now closed.

What is World Youth Day (WYD)?

Pope Francis with Youth of the World

Official WYD website

World Youth Day (WYD) is the gathering of young people from all over the world with the Pope. It is also a pilgrimage, a celebration of youth, an expression of the universal Church and an intense moment of evangelization for the youth world. Although its Catholic identity is clearly evident, WYD opens its doors to everyone, no matter how close to or distant from the Church they are.

It is celebrated at the diocesan level on Palm Sunday, and every two, three or four years as an international gathering in a city chosen by the Pope, with the presence of the Holy Father. It brings together millions of young people to celebrate their faith and sense of belonging to the Church.

Since its first edition in Rome in 1986, World Youth Day has proven to be a laboratory of faith, a place of birth for vocations to marriage and consecrated life, and an instrument for the evangelization and transformation of the Church.

It aims to provide all participants with a universal Church experience, fostering a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. It is a new stimulus to the faith, hope and charity of the entire host country community. With young people as its protagonists, World Youth Day also seeks to promote peace, unity and fraternity among peoples and nations around the world.

Pope Francis' Photo during WYD 2

Let Us Pray:

Our Lady of the Visitation,
you who arose and went with haste towards the mountain to meet Elizabeth,
lead us also to meet all those who await us
to deliver them the living Gospel:
Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord!
We will go in a hurry, with no distraction or delay,
but with readiness and joy.
We will go peacefully, because those who take Christ take peace,
and welldoing is the best wellbeing.

Our Lady of the Visitation,
with your inspiration, this World Youth Day
will be the mutual celebration of the Christ we take, as You once did.
Make it a time of testimony and sharing,
fraternization, and giving thanks,
each of us looking for the others who always wait.
With you, we will continue on this path of gathering,
so that our world will gather as well,
in fraternity, justice and peace.

Help us, Our Lady of the Visitation,
to bring Christ to everyone, obeying the Father, in the love of the Spirit! Amen.

“World Youth Day completely changed my life, and I wish that each soul on this earth could have the opportunity to experience what I experienced.”
​                                          – Sarah L, Westphalia, MI, USA

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