Between the 16th and 19th of October, all teams of the Local Organizing Committee (COL) of WYD Lisbon 2023, representatives of the Episcopal Conferences and youth ministry from around the world, as well as ecclesial movements and religious congregations, met in Fátima (Portugal ) to prepare WYD Lisbon 2023, which will take place in Portugal from 1 to 6 of August 2023.

This meeting, promoted by the Local Organizing Committee and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, was attended by around 280 participants from 180 countries. The objective was to take stock of the work at the pastoral, liturgical and logistical level, and to prepare, together, the next World Youth Day.

The opening session on the first day of the Meeting was attended by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, Archbishop Manuel Clemente, Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, Archbishop José Ornelas Carvalho, President of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference , Professor Augusto Santos Silva, President of the Assembly of the Republic, and Ricardo Leão, Mayor of Loures. In his inaugural address, Cardinal Kevin Farrell made a special request to all present: “Let us make this face-to-face meeting a sign of building bridges between nations and cultures. This is what World Youth Days has been about since its beginning. This message is never old and today it is much needed.”

During the days of the Meeting, the participants heard Dom Américo Aguiar, President of the JMJ Lisbon 2023 Foundation, Duarte Riccardi, Executive Secretary of the COL, as well as the various teams that work in the organization. These days were also marked by cultural moments and moments of prayer, through the celebration of the Mass and the recitation of the Rosary. On the last day of the Meeting, the participants also had the opportunity to take a tour through Lisbon and visit Parque Tejo, where the central events will take place.