Welcome to World Youth Day 2002!

World Youth Day (WYD) is the largest youth event in the world and was held in 2002.

WYD attracted 223,000 registered pilgrims, including 110,000 from 170 nations making it the largest event ever hosted for this kind of thing

You can keep living WYD everyday online. The WYD pilgrimage continues on xt3.com - sign up now!

Order your official WYD08 photos online now. Click here to see the photo gallery.

What is World Youth Day?

World Youth Day is a youth-oriented Roman Catholic Church event. While the event itself celebrates the Catholic faith, invitation to attend is non-denominational.[1] World Youth Day is not associated with International Youth Day or any of the international observance days. World Youth Day (or in short 'WYD') was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1986. It is celebrated on a diocesan level annually, and at a week-long international level every two to three years at different locations. The international level events attract hundreds of thousands of youth from almost every country on the planet. It is a major part of the upsurge in Catholic Youth Work in some countries over recent years; for example, the Director of Catholic Youth Services for England and Wales has said of the event that it would have far-reaching effects, not restricted to those who attended