WYD 2016 Where Blessed John Paul II Felt At Home

At the largest closing mass for World Youth Day since 1995, Pope Francis announced that the next World Youth Day would be held in Krakow in 2016.

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, welcomed Pope Francis’s decision with joy.

In this, he has responded to the desires of so many young people who have long wished to celebrate their faith in the country and the city of Karol Wojtyła, who set off for the Eternal City from Kraków in October 1978, and who, as John Paul II, Bishop of Rome, instituted World Youth Days.

Among the many pastoral initiatives of John Paul II, World Youth Days has undoubtedly been among the most successful, far-reaching and fruitful. The Blessed Pope, since the beginning, saw in young people the “morning watchmen (Isaiah 21:11-12), keeping vigil at the dawn of the Third Millennium” (Tor Vergata, 19 August 2000).

Blessed John Paul II often said that he felt very much at home in Krakow, where he served as Archbishop from 1964-1978. How appropriate is it, then, that his beloved young people will gather there soon after his canonization?

Blessed John Paul II, please pray for all of those who are returning from Rio, that the fruits of World Youth Day may settle rightly in their hearts. Please also pray for those who are already preparing for World Youth Day in Krakow, that they may be guided by your witness and your love for young people.