One month before the biggest meeting of young people with the Pope, the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation has updated some of the main indicators recorded so far.
Currently, with more than 600,000 pilgrims registered, World Youth Day already has 22,000 volunteers with their registration completed.
This new balance, made by the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation, is based on data collected until last June 29, and the organization recalled that “as the date of the meeting approaches, there is a growing interest in and adherence to the greatest meeting of the Pope with young people from around the world.
The countries with most pilgrims who have completed their registration are Spain (58,531), Italy (53,803), France (41,055), Portugal (32,771) and the USA (14,435).
As far as accommodation and meals are concerned, about 70% of the pilgrims who have completed their registration have requested accommodation and about 90% have requested food support, and therefore WYD Lisbon 2023 has already contracted the supply of almost 3 million meals. To accommodate the pilgrims, more than 472,926 overnight accommodation places and 7138 host families have been identified in the Dioceses of Lisbon, Santarém and Setúbal.
As for volunteers, 32,717 young people from 143 countries have registered, of which 22,282 have completed the registration process.
WYD Lisbon 2023 also has 737 bishops registered for the meeting, 29 of whom are cardinals. The countries with the most bishops registered are: Italy (113), Spain (77), France (75), USA (76) and Portugal (45). A total of 10,000 vestments are being produced for clerics. Manufacturing is done through a Portugal/Italy partnership, but a burel factory in Serra da Estrela has been chosen to make a sash that will be included in the main vestment to be worn in Lisbon by Pope Francis.
The City of Joy, located in Belém, and which will also include a vocations fair for the presentation of the various movements, and religious orders, as well as a chapel and 150 confessionals (manufactured in the prisons of Paços de Ferreira, Porto and Coimbra).
For the Park of Forgiveness, 2,600 priests are scheduled to be available for confession in the five official languages of WYD Lisbon 2023: Portuguese, English, French, Spanish and Italian.
The Youth Festival programme includes a total of 480 events, taking place in 100 different locations in the municipalities of Lisbon, Cascais, Oeiras and Loures. In total there will be 15 films, 10 plays, 10 exhibitions, 55 religious and meeting events, 6 dance groups, 38 conferences and also two JMJ Sports tournaments.
