SPOTLIGHT 26/04/19 Seoul archbishop urges parishes to lead WYD 2027 efforts

[성기화 요셉]

Parish-level organizers urged to lead through prayer, service, and hospitality in a shared Church mission

Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick blesses the WYD Seoul 2027 logo sculptures during the Holy Mass for the Launch of the Parish Organizing Committee at Myeongdong Cathedral on April 19. (Photo: Seoul Archdiocese)

By UCA News reporter

Published: April 20, 2026 12:41 PM GMT

Updated: April 20, 2026 12:50 PM GMT

“Some will take part through prayer, others through support, others through service, and still others by opening their homes,” Chung said while urging the faithful to respond with courage to their calling.

Chung made his remarks while leading an inaugural Holy Mass organized by the WYD 2027 Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for launching the Parish Organizing Committees (POCs) for the Seoul Archdiocese.

The Mass marked the start of the parish-level activities ahead of WYD 2027.

The POCs will help organize 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 termed the launch of the POCs as 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 organizing accommodations, the Seoul Archdiocese said.

The parish-level committees are expected to renew parish communities through prayer and make the organizing structure of the WYD visibly present.

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

Around 1,000 participants, including Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee, General Coordinator of WYD 2027, deans and lay representatives from the district level, among others, attended the inaugural Mass.

Parish priests, presidents of parish pastoral councils, and youth representatives from across the Seoul Archdiocese also attended the event.

The representatives of the parish pastoral councils and youth took a pledge to demonstrate their commitment to participating in WYD preparations at the parish level.

Archbishop Chung reminded his listeners that WYD is “not simply an event or a mega-event.”

The 2027 WYD “must become a time of grace in which God is encountered in the young people of the world,” Archbishop Chung emphasized.

The prelate also blessed and presented nearly 300 wooden WYD Seoul 2027 logo sculptures with the names of the individual parishes.

The sculptures were created as distinctive symbols for communities across the archdiocese, and will be installed in the parishes as a sign of prayer, unity, and shared mission in the journey to WYD 2027.

The gathering also included the distribution of appointment certificates, badges, and parish manuals for WYD.

Chung reminded his listeners of the three areas of participation needed at the parish level for better participation in WYD -- financial support, prayer, and homestays.

Chung urged families to welcome pilgrims through homestay, while emphasizing that “such hospitality would become a grace-filled experience of faith and communion.”

He also thanked the parish priests for the financial support through their voluntary contributions and encouraged all the faithful to join through voluntary contributions.

The prelate also urged parishes to intensify their participation in the One Billion Rosaries Prayer Campaign launched by the Seoul archdiocese ahead of WYD.