Before that, Angola, Poland and Spain will also receive the Cross and the Icon of Our Lady  

Between November 2021 and July 2023, the WYD symbols will go on pilgrimage through the 21 dioceses of Portugal, announcing the biggest youth meeting of the world that will take place in the summer of 2023, in Lisbon. They are staying one month in each diocese and the itinerary is going to be the following:

November 2021         Diocese of Algarve

December 2021          Diocese of Beja

January 2022              Diocese of Évora

February 2022            Diocese of Portalegre – Castelo Branco

March 2022                Diocese of Guarda

April 2022                   Diocese of Viseu

May 2022                   Diocese of Funchal

June 2022                   Diocese of Angra

July 2022                    Diocese of Lamego

August 4 to 7, 2022    European Youth Pilgrimage in Santiago de Compostela 

August 2022               Diocese of Bragança-Miranda 

September 2022        Diocese of Vila Real

October 2022             Diocese of Oporto

November 2022         Diocese of Setúbal

December 2022          Diocese of the Forças Armadas e Segurança

January 2023              Diocese of Viana do Castelo

February 2023            Diocese of Braga

March 2023                Diocese of Aveiro

April 2023                   Diocese of Coimbra

May 2023                   Diocese of Leiria-Fátima

June 2023                   Diocese of Santarém

July 2023                    Diocese of Lisboa

The Pilgrim Cross and the Icon of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani, symbols of World Youth Day, will also go on pilgrimage to Angola between July 8 and August 15 of 2021, and to Spain between September and October of this year, and also to Poland, on a date that will be announced soon.

The symbols of WYD

The World Youth Day has two symbols that accompany and represent it: the Pilgrim Cross and the icon of Our Lady, Salus Populi Romani. In the months leading up to each WYD, the symbols go on pilgrimage to proclaim the Gospel and accompany young people, especially in the situations in which they live.

On November 22, 2020, during the Solemnity of Christ the King Mass presided over by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, a delegation of young people from Portugal received the symbols of World Youth Day from the young people of Panama, the city that hosted the last WYD.

The Pilgrim Cross

Standing 3.8 meters high, the Pilgrim Cross (built for the Holy Year in 1983) was entrusted by John Paul II to young people on Palm Sunday 1984, to be carried around the world. Since then, the wooden Pilgrim Cross has begun a pilgrimage that has taken it to five continents and nearly 90 countries. It has been seen as a true sign of faith.

It has been transported on foot, by boat and even by unusual means such as sleds, cranes, or tractors. It has traversed the jungle, visited churches, juvenile detention centres, prisons, schools, universities, hospitals, monuments, and shopping malls. Along the way it has faced many obstacles: from airline strikes to transportation difficulties, such as not being able to travel because it could not fit on any of the available planes.

It has established itself as a sign of hope in particularly sensitive places. In 1985 it was in Prague (now the Czech Republic) at a time when Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain, becoming a sign of communion with the Pope there. Shortly after September 11, 2001, it travelled to Ground Zero, in New York, the site of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.  It also visited Rwanda in 2006 after the country was ravaged by civil war.

The Icon of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani

Since 2003, the Pilgrim Cross has been accompanied by the icon of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani, which represents the Virgin Mary with the Child in her arms. This icon was also established by Pope John Paul II as a symbol of Mary’s presence among young people.

With 1.20 meters high and 80 centimetres wide, the icon of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani is associated to one of the most popular Marian devotions in Italy. It is an ancient tradition to carry her in procession through the streets of Rome to ward off danger and misfortune or to put an end to plagues.

The original icon is in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome and it is visited by Pope Francis, who prays there and leaves a bouquet of flowers before and after each apostolic journey.