SPOTLIGHT 26/07/30 Korean Church begins final preprations for World Youth Day 2027

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The official one-year countdown will begin on Aug. 3, exactly one year before the global event

Participants are seen after the Holy Mass for the launch of the Parish Organizing Committee of World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul, South Korea, on April 19. (Photo: Archdiocese of Seoul)

By UCA News reporter

Published: July 30, 2026 12:04 PM GMT

Updated: July 30, 2026 12:40 PM GMT

Archdiocese of Seoul in South Korea has entered a full implementation phase for World Youth Day, the global Catholic youth gathering to be held in the national capital next year.

The organizing committee is now focused on pilgrim services, accommodation, transportation, safety, medical care and communications for the event to be held on Aug. 3-8, 2027, the archdiocese said in a press release on July 30.

“Over the past three years, we have concentrated on laying the foundations for the event,” the committee’s president, Archbishop Peter Soon-taick Chung of Seoul, said.

“The year ahead will be the time to complete our preparations and welcome young people from every part of the world,” he said.

Prior to the main events, tens of thousands of international pilgrims are scheduled to join "Days in the Dioceses" across 15 Korean dioceses from July 29-Aug. 2, 2027.

“We will do everything possible to make WYD Seoul 2027 a celebration of hope and a witness to the hospitality and solidarity of Korea and Seoul,” Archbishop Chung said.

WYD Seoul 2027 will be the second WYD held in Asia after the one held in Manila in 1995.

Pope Francis named Seoul as the host city of the next WYD at the closing of World Youth Day in Lisbon in August 2023. Since then, organizers have formed the committee structure, released the official theme verse and logo, and named five patron saints.

Vatican officials visited South Korea in July to review preparations and met Archbishop Chung and bishops from host dioceses, according to the committee.

The official one-year countdown will begin on Aug. 3. It will be marked with the premiere of the official theme song, Confidite, Ego Vici Mundum (“Take courage! I have overcome the world”). The song will be released on the WYD Seoul 2027 YouTube channel, the committee said.

The song was written by Korean composer Francis Jiyoon Kim and chosen from 434 entries, including 294 from outside South Korea, it said.

The committee said it will also launch the Breath of Life Global Tree-Planting Campaign, inviting young people to plant trees and share their participation online. The campaign, inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, is intended to involve pilgrims in ecological action and help reduce the event’s carbon footprint.

About 250 youth ministry representatives from bishops’ conferences are expected to gather in South Korea from Sept. 14 to 17 for the second preparatory meeting, the committee said.

International pilgrim registration is scheduled to open in October 2026. Organizers said pilgrims will be able to choose from 11 packages covering accommodation, meals, transportation, insurance and the pilgrim kit, with contributions ranging from about US$80 to US$310.

Accommodation planning is centered on a parish homestay program, with guidelines distributed to about 230 parishes in the Archdiocese of Seoul.