World Youth Day 2016 was the 15th World Youth Day, an international event organised by the Catholic Church and focused on faith and youth that took place from 26 to 31 July 2016 in Kraków, Poland. It was the third World Youth Day held in Central Europe.
Polish pilgrims celebrate the announcement (2013) that the World Youth Day 2016 will take place in Kraków, Poland.
Badges with symbols of World Youth Day 1991 and 2016
Salus Populi Romani
Br Joseph Maria OSPPE at World Youth Day 2016 in Cracow, Poland
World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985. Its concept has been influenced by the Light-Life Movement that has existed in Poland since the 1960s, where during summer camps Catholic young adults over 13 days of camp celebrated a "day of community". For the first celebration of WYD in 1986, bishops were invited to schedule an annual youth event to be held every Palm Sunday in their dioceses. Nicknamed "The Catholic Woodstock", it is celebrated at the diocesan level annually—in most places on Palm Sunday from 1986 to 2020, and from 2021 on Christ the King Sunday—and at the international level every two to three years at different locations. The 1995 World Youth Day closing Mass in the Philippines set a world record for the largest number of people gathered for a single religious event with 5 million attendees. This record was surpassed when 6 million attended a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis—again in the Philippines—20 years later in 2015.
A view of the celebratory vibe outside the Cologne Cathedral in Germany (2005). The participation of Catholics from many countries worldwide results in an enhanced and collaborate spiritual experience.
Crowd at Barangaroo, Sydney, for first day of WYD08 celebrations
Pope Francis arrives at Copacabana, 26 July 2013