World Youth Day 1984 was an international meeting promoted by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

at the extraordinary Holy Year of the Redemption. It was the first large youth gathering promoted by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. From that experience came the idea of the

World Youth Day 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, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-L ...

s which since then have been held, every two or three years, in different countries of the world. The meeting with the Pope took place in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on Saturday, April 14, 1984 before

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Hol ...

. The young people found themselves in the morning in the square in front of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran for mass, then a long procession went to

St. Peter's Square Saint Peter's Square ( la, Forum Sancti Petri, it, Piazza San Pietro ,) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood ( rione) of Borgo. B ...

in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

where the meeting took place with the Pope who, for the occasion, was accompanied on stage created on the steps of

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

Mother Teresa of Calcutta Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...

. About 300,000 people attended the meeting, mostly Italians, but with a significant presence of young people coming from abroad. Pope John Paul II concluded the Youth Jubilee during the

Angelus The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation of Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ o ...

of Palm Sunday. The next day, the Pope concluded the Jubilee of the Youth with the Angelus on Palm Sunday. The following week, on Easter Sunday, April 22, 1984, the Pope gave the youth the Cross of the World Youth Day as a symbol of "the love of the Lord Jesus for humanity and as an announcement that only in Christ died and resurrected it is salvation and redemption." On this occasion he renewed the appointment for a meeting with the young people for Palm Sunday next, March 31, 1985, in the year that the UN proclaimed International Year of Youth.

References

External links

* http://www.gmg2005.it/pls/gmg2005/consultazione.mostra_paginat0?id_pagina=375 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO6gfRRRoU0, Chiara Lubich's speech {{World Youth Day

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Jubilee (Christianity) Religion in Rome 20th century in Vatican City 1984 in Italy April 1984 events in Europe