The Catholic Church celebrates the young in many ways and on multiple levels, including:

• Global Celebration of Youth and Young Adults, annually on the feast of Christ the King. More details on celebrating young people in local churches can be found here.
• World Youth Day, an international pilgrimage taking place every 2-4 years on a major scale in a host nation around the globe. More info about these World Youth Days can be found here.
• Stateside Celebrations, held concurrently with World Youth Days ever 2-4 years, can take place in local Catholic communities. More details about stateside opportunities can be found here.
• For the 2025 Jubilee Holy Year, the Church hosts the "Jubilee of Teenagers" in April 2025 and the "Jubilee of Young People (Young Adults)" in July and August 2025. More on the July-Aug. Jubilee can be found here.

In any instance, these are moments in the life of the Church when young people come together with their peers from every continent or celebrate in solidarity with one another in their local communities for prayer, formation, and celebration around Jesus Christ and the Catholic family worldwide. 

Christ the King: The Global Celebration of Young People

The Global Celebration of Young People, which takes place every year on the Solemnity of Christ the King, is an annual celebration of youth and young adults that is undertaken on the local levels of the Church, such as dioceses, eparchies, parishes, schools, and chaplaincies.

These celebrations both strengthen communities, and, through the use of shared scriptural themes, help prepare the Church for its major international gatherings, the next of which will be the Jubilee of Young People in 2025 and then World Youth Day in Seoul, Korea, in 2027.

From 2023 to 2025, the Church reflects on the virtue of hope, the underpinning of the 2025 Holy Year celebration (which has as its theme, "Pilgrims of Hope"). From 2025 to 2027, the Church will reflect on courageous witness in anticipation of the 2027 World Youth Day in Korea, the land of courageous witnesses to Jesus Christ. Those themes are:

• 38th World Youth Day, 2023-2024: “Rejoicing in hope” (cf. Rom 12:12)
• 39th World Youth Day, 2024-2025: “Those who hope in the Lord will run and not be weary” (cf. Is 40:31)
• 40th World Youth Day, 2025-2026: "You also are my witnesses, because you have been with me” (Jn 15:27)
• 41st World Youth Day, 2026-2027: "Take courage! I have overcome the world" (Jn 16:33)

To learn more about the Global Celebration of Young People and for guides and other resources to assist in planning and organizing events for and themed around young people, please look to our Christ the King Annual page here.

Jubilee Year in Rome - The Jubilee of Young People

The Holy Father Pope Francis has declared 2025 to be a Jubilee Holy Year, a time of rejoicing in which different aspects of the Church's life and different people within the Church are celebrated. Included in this is a celebration of youth and young adults, their role in the Church, and what the Church can learn from them.

The Jubilee of Young People will take place from July 28 to August 3, 2025, forming an intermediary celebration between WYD Lisbon in 2023, and WYD Seoul in 2027. Building upon the two-year cycle of Scriptural themes for the Global Celebration of Youth and Young Adults, the theme for the coming jubilee is "Pilgrims of Hope," focusing on the distinct hope of young people and the unique effect their hope can have on the lives of others.

This jubilee celebration will be the culmination of the scriptural themes and discernment that are a part of the celebration of the Global Celebration of Young People. Please stay tuned for more information of the Jubilee of Young People as it approaches.

World Youth Day Seoul

World Youth Day Seoul is the next upcoming international gathering of World Youth Day. Taking place in 2027, it will be the first WYD to take place on mainland East Asia. 

If you would like information regarding the prior World Youth Day Lisbon, please go to the International Celebration page and its News and Updates page. Being made at the time of WYD Lisbon, they have information detailing some of the activities in Portugal, primarily highlighting some important events and the activities of the Holy Father, though they do not form a comprehensive list.