“Take courage! I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). This is the theme for the 2027 international World Youth Day (WYD) to be hosted in Seoul, South Korea. At a press conference at the Vatican on September 24, 2024, the organizers also unveiled the logo for the event and highlighted how it will be the first WYD to be held in a country where Christians are a minority.
“Every World Youth Day is a wonderful opportunity for the local Church hosting it to celebrate its distinct culture and faith together with other Churches. In Korea, Catholics make up 11% of the population. Although a minority, the Church is full of vitality and initiatives of all kinds,” said Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. “It is enriched by the heroic witness of so many martyrs, and it continues to radiate, very strongly, a light of faith and hope that reaches all believers in every part of the world.”
“The pilgrimage of WYD Seoul 2027 will be more than just a large gathering. It will be a meaningful journey where young people, united with Jesus Christ, reflect on and discuss the modern challenges and injustices they face,” said Archbishop Peter Soon-Taick Chung, of Seoul. “It will be a grand celebration, allowing everyone to experience the vibrant and energetic culture created by Korean youth.”
2nd WYD to be held in Asia
Started in 1984 by John Paul II, WYD is celebrated every year at the diocesan level and every couple of years in a chosen city across the globe. The last international edition was in Lisbon, Portugal, in August 2023 and attracted around 1.5 million young people from all over the world. The only other edition to have been held in Asia was in Manila, Philippines, in 1995.
South Korea, which was mostly evangelized by lay people, will be the first nation with a Christian minority to host this event.
According to the 2021 estimates in the World Factbook, 17% of the population identifies as Protestant, 6% as Catholic, 16% as Buddhist; 60% does not identify itself in any religion.
"The Pope wants to break out to the whole world -- there is too much conflict, there is too much division among us all," Cardinal Farrell explained, in answering a question by the press on why Pope Francis had chosen Seoul. "The Holy Father wants to bring us into dialogue with each other."
The themes, the Jubilee, and the cross
Before 2027 though, young people are encouraged to come together in Rome in 2025 for the Youth Jubilee, which will be held from July 28 to August 3. In fact the organizers also released the theme for that 2025 meeting which is: “You also are my witnesses, because you have been with me” (Jn 15:27).
“Both themes are taken from the Gospel of John, which is known as Jesus' ‘farewell discourse’ (cf. John 13-17), when he prepares his disciples to experience the mystery of his passion and death, in the certainty of his resurrection,” Cardinal Farrell explained, highlighting the close connection between the 2025 celebrations and the one in Asia two years later.
This coming November 24, the WYD symbols, the Youth Cross, and an icon of Mary “Salus populi romani”, will be handed over from the Portuguese young people to the Korean ones during a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The young Koreans will then take this cross and icon on a pilgrimage to other Asian countries and across South Korea to prepare spiritually for the 2027 WYD.
“Our hope is that many young people, even those who have never participated in a WYD, will walk a path over the next three years -- above all an interior path, an interior conversion -- and come to meet each other in Asia together with the Successor of Peter, and may they all bear courageous witness to Christ together,” Cardinal Farrell explained.
The logo
The organizers also unveiled the logo for the event, which is inspired by traditional Korean brushstroke techniques and features a red and blue cross with Korean characters in black representing Seoul, as well as stylistically spelling "WYD."
“The red and blue colors symbolize Christ’s triumphant victory over the world. The left element, reaching upward, signifies God in Heaven, while the right element, pointing downward, symbolizes Earth, illustrating the fulfillment of God’s will on Earth through their unity,” explained the Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul, Paul Kyung Sang Lee, general coordinator of the Seoul WYD.
“Additionally, the red on one side of the cross symbolizes the blood of the martyrs, harmonizing with the empowering theme, 'Take courage.' The blue represents the vitality of youth and symbolizes God’s calling. Together, these colors echo the Taegeuk pattern on the Korean flag,” he explained. “Finally, the yellow color that shines behind the cross represents the Christ, who is the 'Light of the World.' Christ has overcome the world. He shines upon our Church like the sun rising from the East. And He guides the Church towards unity.”
