Official WYD Dates Announced Cardinal Dziwisz of Krakow, Poland has officially announced to the Polish press the dates for WYD 2016. World Youth Day will be held in the last week of July 2016. The main place where young people will meet Pope Francis will be Cracow’s Błonia Park – said metropolitan bishop of Cracow cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz. The president of the city Jacek Majchrowski was not surprised by that. Cardinal Dziwisz added that the meetings will also take place in Jordanowski Park, the two stadiums and university campus. The Way of the Cross with Pope Francis will take place along Wisła river, the Pope would sail on the boat and the young people would follow him walking on the boulevards. -It would be a great experience and also a kind of artistic show – said cardinal Dziwisz. – Definitely we will use Łagiewniki and John Paul II Center – he added. The metropolitan bishop of Cracow reported that the interest in participating in World Youth Day is already very high, 175 groups from the USA have already booked accomodations in Cracow. Cracow authorities: we are not surprised President of Cracow, Jacek Majchrowski, was informed about all arrangements, regarding the sites in Cracow, where the World Youth Day will take place and he is not surprised by anything. – It is the city that has suggested Błonia Park as the best area also for the security reasons. For that kind of event you have to choose the place where you can get into easily and leave quickly – says Majchrowski’s spokeswoman Monika Chylaszek. As points Chylaszek, the whole area is well connected so there will not be problems getting to the site. -After the worship people can easily leave the site because it is possible to leave the Błonia Park in the radial manner. Also using the municipal stadiums as places for pilgrims was the city’s suggestion. – We considered that Błonia Park will not accomodate all the pilgrims so the city has proposed that they can also use stadiums (Wisła and Cracovia) and watch everything on the screens – says Chylaszek. In July, during the World Youth Day, that this year took place in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Pope Francis announced that the next host city for World Youth Day in 2016 will be Cracow. The efforts to have Cracow as a host city for the youth meeting lasted two years. Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz has been trying to make it happen since the meeting of Pope Benedict XVI with young people in Madrid in 2011. Initially WYD was considered for the year 2015, 10 years since the death of John Paul II. Shortly after the election of Pope Francis, cardinals Stanisław Dziwisz and metropolitan bishop of Warsaw Kazimierz Nycz, invited the Pope to Poland, suggesting his visit to be held in 2015 for the World Youth Day or a year after, to celebrate the 1050 anniversary of Baptism of Poland. Shortly after that the invitation was confirmed by president Bronisław Komorowski, he had talked with the Pope in the day of the inauguration of his pontificate, March 19. World Youth Day has taken place in Poland only once – in 1991 in Częstochowa. 1.5 million people participated in that meeting. The idea of World Youth Day has been initiated between young people by Pope John Paul II, who in 1984 in Rome, gave them the cross – the symbol of the World Youth Day.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 15:18:01 +0000
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