Kiwis travel to Seoul to make preparations for WYD 2027

Palmerston North Bishop John Adams, Auckland priest Fr Thomas Park and Auckland Diocese Ministries to Young People manager Sam Brebner met Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee, general coordinator of World Youth Day Seoul 2027, and members of the Local Organising Committee.

“It was a joy to build relationships with this dedicated team, to thank them for their hard work, and to assure them of our prayers,” Mr Brebner, who is also a member of the National Council for Young People, stated in an Auckland Catholic Youth Ministry Facebook post.

“As a sign of gratitude and friendship, we presented Bishop Lee with a carved Māori patu, honouring his leadership and so that he can remember the young people of New Zealand.”

World Youth Day 2027 in South Korea is scheduled to run from July 29 to August 8 next year. Pope Leo XIV will attend the gathering.

A Mass marking the start of the parish-level activities ahead of WYD 2027 was celebrated at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul on April 19, UCA News reported.

Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-tiack of Seoul urged parish communities to become “true protagonists” on the journey toward World Youth Day 2027.

Archbishop Chung said at the Mass that World Youth Day is “not simply an event or a mega-event”. It “must become a time of grace in which God is encountered in the young people of the world”, he said.

Parish Organising Committees (POCs) will help organise and coordinate homestay arrangements and other accommodation preparations, including the use of school facilities within each parish’s jurisdiction, among other activities.

The Seoul archdiocesan communications office said the launch of the POCs is a reflection of the archdiocese’s commitment to “move forward together with its parishes on the road to World Youth Day”.

The POCs do not have a mere structural role of organising accommodations, the Seoul Archdiocese said. The parish-level committees are expected to renew parish communities through prayer and make the organising structure of World Youth Day visibly present.

They are also expected to deepen awareness among the faithful that it is a “shared mission of the whole local Church”, encouraging spiritual and financial support from clergy and faithful at the local level.

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Facebook (Auckland Catholic Youth Ministry)

Seoul archbishop urges parishes to lead WYD 2027 effort (UCA News)