The 38th World Youth Day in the particular Churches will be celebrated on 26 November, Solemnity of Christ the King
The Message of the Holy Father will initiate a two-year cycle on the theme of hope, to prepare for the 2025 Jubilee
The Message of the Holy Father for the 38th World Youth Day, to be celebrated in the particular Churches throughout the world on the Solemnity of Christ the King, on 26 November 2023, has as its central theme Saint Paul’s words to the Romans: “Rejoicing in hope” (Rom 12:12).
The text will begin a two-year cycle of messages addressed to the young, linked to the guiding thread of hope that is the theme of the 2025 Jubilee: “Pilgrims of hope”. These messages will accompany the young on the journey that will lead them to celebrate the Jubilee of young people in Rome in 2025.
The message was signed on the day of the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Cathedral of Rome, where young Romans will celebrate the diocesan World Youth Day together. In the same way, young people all around the world are invited to gather around their own pastors in their particular Churches.
In his message, Pope Francis reminds the young that they are “the joyful hope of the Church and of a humanity always on the move”. He proposes reflecting together on joy and on hope, which spring from the Paschal mystery; he recalls that this hope “is no facile optimism, no placebo for the credulous: it is the certainty, rooted in love and faith, that God never abandons us”.
Pope Francis also refers to the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit, whose five-year anniversary of publication will be celebrated in 2024. He emphasizes that the document opens precisely with the proclamation of Christian hope: “Christ is alive. He is our hope and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world!” (Christus vivit, 1).
The Holy Father’s invitation is for young people and all youth pastoral workers to “reread the Final Document of 2018 and the Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit”, adding that “the time is ripe to take stock of the situation and to work together with hope for the full implementation of that unforgettable Synod”.
Further information:
Pamela Fabiano Comunicazione
Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life
p.fabiano@laityfamilylife.va Mob. +39.3394034163
