WYD reveals the names of the Central Events locations
World Youth Day (WYD) Lisbon 2023 reveals today, two months before the start of the largest gathering of young people from around the world with the Pope, the official names of the venues where the Central Events of WYD Lisbon 2023 will take place.
Because World Youth Day is inspired by Mary, who rose and set out in haste to meet her cousin Elizabeth, because it will take place in Lisbon, known as the city of the "Seven Hills," and because we want this to be a time of encounter and grace for all who participate, Park Edward VII will be called "Colina do Encontro" and Tagus Park will be called "Campo da Graça”.
The name "Colina do Encontro" evokes the encounter with the Living Christ, the first goal of the World Youth Day. Then, it evokes the experience of the young Church in Lisbon, which wants to go out to meet everyone. It also evokes the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth, a true intergenerational encounter, marked by joy. "Colina do Encontro" also recalls the meeting of Pope Saint John Paul II, the much revered founder of WYD, with Lisbon in 1982, in Parque Eduardo VII. It will be in this same location that young people will meet Pope Francis for the first time at WYD Lisbon 2023.
The name "Campo da Graça" comes from the fact that the pilgrims will head to Tagus Park in thanksgiving to celebrate the Vigil and the Final Mass of a week that will surely remain in everyone's heart forever. WYD is, in the words of Pope Francis, "an event of grace that awakens, broadens the horizon, strengthens the aspirations of the heart, helps to dream, to look beyond.
The WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation wishes that these names – Colina do Encontro and Campo da Graça - may endure in the memory of all those who will participate in the largest gathering of young people from around the world with the Pope and, most especially, in the hearts of all the inhabitants of the city of Lisbon and Loures.