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Pope Leo XIV Invites Youth to Seoul for World Youth Day
Confirmed
In Short: In a video message, Pope Leo XIV invited young Catholics worldwide to register for World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul, South Korea, emphasizing it as a pilgrimage of faith, friendship, and hope.
"This is not merely an invitation to see a new city; it is a call to set out on a pilgrimage of faith, friendship, and hope," Pope Leo said in his message.
The pope highlighted the event's focus on unity in diversity, noting that despite differences, young people will experience a greater sense of unity as members of the one body of Christ.
Organizers urged those registering to do so as groups, and the WYD 2027 countdown began with the premiere of its official theme song, “Confidite, Ego Vici Mundum,” on YouTube.
"In Seoul, you will meet young people from all across the world, representing a beautiful and rich variety of languages and cultures," Pope Leo said.
The pope reminded young Catholics to bring all that they are and all that they carry in their hearts, including their dreams, desires, and hopes, as well as their wounds and struggles.
"A pilgrimage gives you the chance not only to discover Christian sites in another location, but also to find the time and space to encounter God more deeply, both personally and within the dynamic life of the Church," the pope said.
"The Lord is waiting for you in this place of encounter and communion," Pope Leo said, encouraging young people to deepen their faith and form friendships that will last a lifetime.
"We need to lift our eyes, to look upwards, to the ‘things that are above’ (Col 3:2), to realize that everything in the world has meaning only insofar as it serves to unite us to God and to our brothers and sisters in charity, helping us to grow in ‘compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience’ (Col 3:12)," he added.
"He calls each of you by name and he desires to reawaken your hope and to give you the fullness of life and joy," Pope Leo said.
What this adds
Pope Leo XIV's invitation to World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul is consistent with his previous calls to deepen faith and form global connections among young Catholics.
Background
Pope Leo XIV has invited young Catholics worldwide to register for World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul, South Korea.
Pope Leo XIV has called on young people worldwide to register for the upcoming World Youth Day in Seoul, South Korea.
What's confirmed
- “This is not merely an invitation to see a new city; it is a call to set out on a pilgrimage of faith, friendship, and hope,” Leo said in a video message.
- In a press release accompanying the pope’s message, the WYD 2027 organizers urged those registering to do so as groups.
- “Yet, despite these differences, and indeed because of your God-given diversity, you will experience an even greater sense of unity, for we are all members of the one body of Christ.” The next World Youth Day will take place in Seoul from Aug.
- “Over the past three years, we have concentrated on laying the foundations for the event. The year ahead will be the time to complete our preparations and welcome young people from every part of the world,” Chung said.
- “Providentially, today we celebrate the liturgical memory of St. John Paul II, who continuously proclaimed to all peoples, ‘Do not be afraid, open wide the doors for Christ.’ These words also apply to each one of you,” Leo said.
- “In Seoul, you will meet young people from all across the world, representing a beautiful and rich variety of languages and cultures,” the pope said.
- On Aug. 3, the WYD 2027 countdown began with the premiere of its official theme song, “Confidite, Ego Vici Mundum” (“Take Courage, I Have Overcome the World,” in Latin), on YouTube.
- The pope, who is expected to attend, also reminded young Catholics what to look forward to as they register for WYD 2027: unity in diversity.
- VATICAN — With less than a year to go until World Youth Day (WYD) in Seoul, South Korea, Pope Leo XIV invited young Catholics worldwide to register and to view the event as a pilgrimage rather than just a trip to a new place.
- In his message, Pope Leo referred to his predecessor, who invited the young to “open wide the doors for Christ”.
- John Paul II, who established World Youth Day in 1985.
- (OSV News) — Next year’s World Youth Day is not a sightseeing excursion but an opportunity for Catholic youth to deepen and renew their faith, Pope Leo XIV said.
What's still developing
- You can register or find out about WYD here and below is what the Pope said to young people: Today, as registration opens for next year’s World Youth Day, I warmly invite each of you to Seoul.
- Launched in 2013, Aleteia is a free online daily news publication.
- Friday, October 23, 2026 · 6:14 AM ET Updated 6:14 AM ET · 1:23 PM ET Confirmed In Short: Pope Leo XIV has called on young people worldwide to register for the upcoming World Youth Day in Seoul, South Korea.
- “After this jubilee, the ‘pilgrimage of hope’ of young people continues and will take us to Asia,” the pontiff said in a message before praying the Angelus at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, 10 miles east of Rome, where he had just celebrated Mass for 1 million participants from 146 countries.
- “I renew the invitation that Pope Francis extended in Lisbon two years ago,” he added, referring to World Youth Day in Portugal in 2023.
- The pontiff defined the Jubilee of Youth, held in Rome from July 28 to Aug.
- Young faithfuls hold a South Korean flag during an open-air mass in the Tor Vergata district of Rome, as part of Jubilee of Youth, on August 3, 2025.