Rome Reports February 18 2017

Archbishop of Panama is in Rome to prepare for WYD 2019

WYD of Panama starts its engines. Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa has also traveled to Poland to exchange experiences with the organization of the last World Youth Day.

He explains that the most delicate phase at the moment is to prepare for the accommodation of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who will travel to Panama.

MGR JOSÉ DOMINGO ULLOA, Archbishop of Panama City – "We have the motto: in each young pilgrim we welcome Jesus, and right now that is the first priority. Go looking for places to accommodate young people.”

The archbishop also traveled to Rome to meet with the prefect of the Dicastery of the Laity, Family and Life, Cardinal Kevin Farrell.

They both studied the next steps. For example, in the Eternal City on April 9, Palm Sunday, young Poles will deliver the WYD Cross to the youth of Central America. It is a gesture that serves to assess the role of young people.

MGR JOSÉ DOMINGO ULLOA, Archbishop of Panama City – "Young people need us to give them opportunities, and enable them to understand that they themselves are in control of their present and future. And it is also up to the adult society to truly believe in the young."

In the coming months, most likely in April, the logo and hymn of Panama's WYD will be revealed, whose Marian motto is "I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” It is a subject that is very in tune with the next synod that Francis has convened in Rome, a synod on the young and vocations.

World Youth Day 2019 will be held in Panama from January 22-29, 2017.