The Pope announced that the next World Youth Day will be in Seoul in 2027

Papa Francisco he announced today at the end of the Mass celebrated in front of one and a half million young people in Lisbon per World Youth Day (WYD) that the next one will be held at Seoul in 2027 and confirmed that “it moved from the western border of Europe to the far east and these are symbols of the universality of the Church”.

The Pope also invited young people from all over the world to celebrate the Youth Jubilee together in Rome in 2025. “I’ll wait for you there,” he said.

Pope who attended World Youth Day from Brazil, Krakow, Panama and Lisbon He announced that he would next be on the continent he greatly appreciates, in Asia, and that in Tejo Park, where mass was celebrated with enthusiasm.

Francisco, who will come this afternoon to greet the thousands of volunteers who made the celebration of this Catholic event possible, concluded the mass today with a message in which he said: “thank you” or rather, “indebted” to the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, the entire Church and the entire Portuguese people, President Portugal’s Marelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is present at all events.

“Honestly to you, Lisbon, who will remain in the memory of these young people as a house of fraternity and a city of dreams” and “With respect to the volunteers, whom we applaud for their great service”, he added.

“Special thanks to those who watched over World Youth Day from heaven, i.e. the patron saints of the event, especially one: John Paul IIwho gave life to World Youth Days”, Franjo concluded.

for his part, Archbishop of Seoul Peter Chung Soon-taekHe said that in recent years, thousands of young people from different countries have learned about Korea through its culture, such as K-pop and K-dramas (TV series), and he believes visitors will be very impressed.

The Korean delegation assumes that, in a country where Catholicism is a minority and surrounded by other countries where it is not the main religion, they cannot aspire to gather millions of young people in 2027, but they are convinced that it will also be a success.

“Tens of thousands of young people from all over the world will go to Seoul,” said the archbishop, who said they expected a slightly larger impact from World Youth Day Sydney (Australia, 2008)with about 300,000 people.

The goal is to “promote connections” among young people and “live the exchange of cultures and life stories”.

“It is a great opportunity for Korea to share its culture and diversity with the world,” he insisted. Chung Soon-taekwhich, he pointed out, will also enable Catholics to “develop and nurture their spiritual strength and mature through their faith.”

The South Korean church also hopes it will have an impact on the country’s faithful, after the pandemic has reduced the number of young people going to mass.

“We hope that the preparations and the World Youth Day itself will be an excellent opportunity to develop a greater connection between young people,” he insisted.

The World Youth Day in Koreawhere only 10% of the population is Catholic, will be the second host in Asia after the one held in Philippines in 1995.