Krakow, Poland (2016)

Date: 27-31 July 2016

Pontificate: Pope Francis

Theme: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7)

Song: Błogosławieni miłosierni (mercy and forgiveness)

“Dear young people, at last we are together!” These are the first words that Pope Francis addressed to the 700,000 young people of WYD, in the Blonia esplanade in Krakow, as he thanked them for “this warm welcome”. He paid tribute to St John Paul II, “in the land of his birth”, “who first came up with the idea of these meetings and gave them such momentum. From his place in heaven, he is with us and he sees all of you: so many young people from such a variety of nations, cultures and languages but with one aim, that of celebrating Jesus who is living in our midst.” In one of the key passages, Pope Francis focused on the strength of young people who challenge those who do not want change. “I ask you, and you respond: can things change? [Yes!] I cannot hear you! [Yes!] That’s good.”
More than a million and a half young people from all over the world and the Polish faithful took part in the Vigil and the Closing Mass of WYD on the large esplanade of Wieliczka.
The pope opened the Saturday Vigil by quoting the words of a Syrian boy, Rand, who had attended WYD and asked for prayers for his country. “We have no desire to conquer hatred with more hatred, violence with more violence, terror with more terror. (…)  Our response to a world at war has a name: its name is fellowship, its name is communion, its name is family.”
In the homily of the Mass, the pope sent young people out into the world as disciples and witnesses of God’s mercy, strengthened by this experience and with the Gospel of Jesus as their “navigator” on the roads of life. “People may call you dreamers … but don’t be discouraged”. During this WYD, Pope Francis urged young people not to be “couch potatoes” but to be ready in their “walking shoes”. “God’s memory is not a ‘hard disk’ that ‘saves’ and ‘archives’ all our data. It is a heart filled with tender compassion that finds joy in ‘erasing’ all our faults.”

All of the Holy Father’s speeches at WYD in Krakow: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/travels/2016/outside/documents/papa-francesco-polonia-2016.html

Summary based on the data sheet published by frontierarieti.com, organ of the Diocese of Rieti.