JMJ PILGRIMAGES PAKISTAN

JMJ HISTORY

According to many, it is the most beautiful invention of Pope John Paul II. In 1984, the Pope decided to organize a gathering on Palm Sunday, in Rome, to celebrate the Youth Jubilee of the Holy Year of Redemption 1983-1984. Sixty thousand pilgrims were expected, however 250 thousand young people from different countries around the world attended the event.
The experience was so meaningful for the entire Church that the Holy Father decided to repeat the celebration the following year. In this gathering, 300 thousand young pilgrims were distributed among the churches of the city for moments of prayer and catechesis, followed by a full gathering in Saint Peter’s Square to participate in the celebration with the Pope. This same year, 1985, John Paul II wrote an Apostolic Exhortation to the young people of the whole world, and on 20 December, he announced the institution of World Youth Day.

Cross and Icon

The World Youth Day cross has many names: Jubilee Cross, Pilgrim Cross, and Youth Cross. It was entrusted to the youth as they were given the commission to “carry it throughout the world as a symbol of Christ’s love for humanity, and announce to everyone that only in the death and resurrection of Christ can we find salvation and redemption.” The cross set out with the young people from St. Peter’s in 1984 and has since been carried around the world, making a pilgrimage from parish to parish, diocese to diocese, and country to country.

First WYD

The Palm Sunday directly following the very first World Youth Day, coinciding with the United Nation’s International Year of the Youth, Our Holy Father took the opportunity to welcome the youth of the world to Rome again. Later, announcing the institution of World Youth Day on December 20, 1985, and the first official WYD was held in 1986.

International WYDs

The following year brought about a new tradition when the second event and first international WYD took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Every Palm Sunday has since been designated as a World Youth Day, alternately celebrated at the diocesan and international levels. There have been 15 International World Youth Day celebrations, where the youth continue to answer the invitation of the Holy Father in staggering numbers and carry home the message received there to be Christ’s light to the world. While these events are organized by the clergy and laity of the Catholic Church, youth of all faiths are invited to attend and encounter Christ, making this gathering truly universal.

Reflection

Pope St. John Paul II told the 800,000 pilgrims gathered with him in Toronto, the last international WYD in which he was present, “When, back in 1985, I wanted to start the World Youth Days, I imagined a powerful moment in which the young people of the world could meet Christ, who is eternally young, and could learn from him how to be bearers of the Gospel to other young people. This evening, together with you, I praise God and give thanks to him for the gift bestowed on the Church through the World Youth Days. Millions of young people have taken part, and as a result have become better and more committed Christian witnesses.”John Paul the Great left a legacy for the youth in his institution of World Youth Day. Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis faithfully continued to carry on this legacy, demonstrating the hope of the pontiff for the youth of the world by inviting them and commissioning them to be faithful living witnesses as Christ’s disciples.