SEOUL IS WAITING. YOU CAN PACK YOUR VULNERABILITIES TOO

When you pack a suitcase, you always try to leave something at home. The sweater too much, the shoes that occupy space, that yet another is never known. For the WYD of Seoul, Pope Leo XIV suggests instead to bring also what we usually hide best: wounds, labors, parts of our lives still to be understood.

The invitation comes in the video message of 22 October, the day registration opened for World Youth Day 2027. The event is in Seoul, South Korea, from 3 to 8 August. It is a date to mark for those dreaming of going, and words worth hearing even for those who already know they will be staying home.

An invitation that comes before the preparations

The Pope speaks of a pilgrimage in which to deepen the relationship with God and meet other young people in the Church. There is room for what you want and also for what it weighs. The journey does not require to arrive with a life already resolved: it is precisely the life that we have to become an opportunity for encounter.

It's a passage that touches us. Because sometimes we imagine faith as a place to enter only after having put everything back in order. The sooner I get past this moment, the sooner I go back to praying well, the sooner I understand what I want. In the meantime, let's postpone. Christ's invitation can reach us while we are still in those questions.

The word to keep close is courage

The theme of WYD takes up John 16,33: "Have courage: I have conquered the world!" In the Gospel, those words arrive inside a speech that knows the proof and the disturbance. For a girl who fears the future, hearing them can open a space: fear must not decide everything by itself.

Courage may mean asking for information even if no friend has yet decided to leave. Or admit that the trip interests, but the cost worries. It can be talking to your group about a real need, rather than disappearing because you are afraid of slowing others down.

Many accents, a faith to share

Leo XIV imagines the encounter between children of different languages and cultures and the possibility of lasting bonds being born. It does not promise that each meeting will be easy or that it is enough to participate to feel immediately at ease. It indicates an opportunity to live together.

Those who are shy can recognize themselves in the struggle of the first greeting. Those who speak little English may wonder how they will do so. But a community is also built waiting for those who seek a word, explaining something a second time, leaving room at the table. Before even great emotions, there is this way of staying close.

How to sign up, without getting lost on the first click

The official page of the pilgrims indicates group membership and invites individuals and small groups to join a parish, a diocese or a community. The form is also available in Italian. A first useful contact is therefore the youth ministry of its diocese.

For packages with accommodation, the site fixed at 31 May 2027 the closure of registrations and related payments; for those without accommodation there are subsequent possibilities. Before organizing yourself, it is better to confront the group manager and read the conditions of the chosen package.

Take to the first meeting the questions you really need: which days covers the proposal, which trips includes, when you pay and how a possible waiver works. If you have accessibility needs or need specific support, talking about it soon helps organizers to assess what is possible to prepare.

Registering doesn't mean you've already paid for the trip

In the first stage, the group leader creates an account and enters the group’s details without payment. Planning the journey comes next: flights, accommodation and pilgrim packages involve costs and choices to discuss together.

The budget should therefore be carefully constructed, reading what is included. For a minor, preparations and permissions must be dealt with together with the parents and those responsible. The dream can stay great even when you start from a very practical list.

What if you can't go to Seoul?

You may want a beautiful thing and not be able to do it, for money, work, health or family responsibilities. This does not make one's faith less true. You can ask your community how to accompany the path to WYD and what meetings are open to those who do not leave.

And you can already keep the sense of the invitation today: submit to Jesus with what you are. Maybe the first thing to prepare isn't a suitcase. It will be to find the courage to tell someone: this part of my life weighs me, can I tell you?