The second World Youth Day 1987 ( es, Jornada Mundial de la Juventud 1987) took place on 6 and 12 April 1987 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and was presided 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 ...

. It was the first edition held in a city other than

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 ...

Official announce

The headquarters of the 2nd edition of WYD was made official by John Paul II on June 8, 1986.

Theme

The theme chosen by Pope John Paul II for these days is taken from the fourth chapter of the

First Epistle of John The First Epistle of John is the first of the Johannine epistles of the New Testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. There is no scholarly consensus as to the authorship of the Johannine works. The author of the First Epistle is ter ...

, verse 16: "And we have recognized the love that God has for us, and we have believed in it".

Anthem

The anthem of these World Youth Days was titled "un nuevo sol" ("a new sun").

Procedure

The WYD of 1987 took place as part of the John Paul's apostolic trip to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

which took place from March 31 to April 12, 1987. The Pope arrived in Argentina on 6 April.

11 April

The opening Mass was held in the

Basilica of Our Lady of Luján The Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Luján ( es, Basílica Menor de Nuestra Señora de Luján) is a Roman Catholic church building in Luján, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Built in Neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo ...

, on April 11, 1987. The Vigil prior to the closing Mass was divided into three blocks: Argentine, Latin American and World, for each the Pope directed a different message.

12 April

The central act was the closing mass celebrated in front of the

Obelisco de Buenos Aires The Obelisco de Buenos Aires (Obelisk of Buenos Aires) is a national historic monument and icon of Buenos Aires. Located in the Plaza de la República in the intersection of avenues Corrientes and 9 de Julio, it was erected in 1936 to commemora ...

, on April 12,

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 ...

, in front of over a million people and was the first time that a Pope celebrated a Palm Sunday outside of Rome.

Audience

More than 1 million young people from all over the world gathered at the 9 de Julio Avenue in the Argentine capital to participate in the conference. Its central ceremonies took place at Plaza de Constitución, one of the largest squares of the Argentine capital.

The Cross

The Cross of the World Youth Day was a wooden

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

of 3.8 m height given to young Catholics by Pope John Paul II at the end of the

Holy Year A jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In '' Leviticus'', a jubilee year ( he, יובל ''yūḇāl'') is mentioned to occur every 50th year; during which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgi ...

of 1984 with the words "Take it for the world as a sign of the love of the Lord Jesus." For the first time since its institution, the Cross out of Rome to be one of the main symbols of WYD in Buenos Aires 1987.

Hymn of the World Youth Day 1987

THE NEW CIVILIZATION The WYD Hymn of Buenos Aires 1987, popularly known as "Un Nuevo Sol" was composed by Alberto Croce and Eugenio Perpetua. A land that has no borders but hands that together will form a stronger chain that war and that death. We know it, love is the path A more just and fraternal homeland where we all build unity where nobody is displaced, because all are called. We know... A new sun rises about the new civilization that is born today. A stronger chain that hate and that death We know it, love is the path. Justice is the force of peace love, who makes forgive. The truth, the force that gives us liberation. We know... The one who has shares his wealth and the one who knows does not impose his truth. The boss understands that power is a service. We know... The one who believes contagious with his life and the pain is covered with love because the man feels supportive in solidarity with the world. We know...

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20130523061615/http://rio2013.com/pt/noticias/detalhes/1765/buenos-aires-1987-relembre-a-primeira-jmj-latino-americana * https://archive.today/oFi1a {{World Youth Day Argentina–Holy See relations Catholic Church in Argentina Events in Buenos Aires Foreign trips by popes World Youth Day 1987 in Argentina 1987 in South America Buenos Aires April 1987 events