Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa takes a selfie with volunteers from WYD Lisbon 2023. / Photo credit: WYD Lisbon 2023

Denver Newsroom, Oct 31, 2022 / 13:10 pm (CNA).

The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, registered as a pilgrim for World Youth Day (WYD), to be held in Lisbon Aug. 1-6, 2023. According to the president, the event “will be the largest collective meeting ever in Portugal.”

The Portuguese president visited the headquarters of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) on Oct. 26 to register on the official platform and then invited all Catholics to this international event.

“Mark this week on your calendar and move forward,” he said.

Registration for WYD Lisbon 2023 is now open for pilgrims, volunteers, priests, and bishops through the official registration platform. Registration is also active to participate in the Youth Festival and the Vocational Fair.

The LOC offers package options for pilgrims to access a set of services such as accommodations, food, transportation, security, and a pilgrim’s kit.

Registration is done online by completing a form available in Portuguese, English, Italian, French, and Spanish. Registration instructions will also be available for downloading from the registration platform. The English form is available here.

The official site of WYD Lisbon 2023 explains that the system allows individual or group registration.

“However, very small groups and individual pilgrims are strongly encouraged not to sign up alone but to join larger groups organized by parishes, dioceses, or other communities,” it says.

The LOC notes that the registration system doesn’t require entering the personal data of all pilgrims; only more detailed information is requested on the person in charge and the No. 2 person in charge of the group, priests, disabled people, and people who need a visa to enter Portugal.

“Information is also requested on the number of minors and those over 30 years of age that are part of the group, as well as the date and means of transport for arrival in Lisbon and departure after the end of WYD Lisbon 2023,” the LOC explains.

World Youth Day is a gathering of young people from all over the world with the pope. It was instituted by St. John Paul II in 1985 and since then has represented a time of encounter and exchange for millions of people.

The first event took place in 1986 in Rome, and since then WYD has had several venues: Buenos Aires, Argentina (1987); Santiago de Compostela (1989); Częstochowa (1991); and Denver (1993).

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.