Panama Will Host the Next World Youth Day

This year the catholic event, World Youth Day (WYD) took place in Krakow Poland starting July 25th and ending today, July 30th. Minutes before the closing ceremonies Pope Francis announced that Panama will be the next country to host the event in 2019.

The Pope said “it with joy I announce that the next World Day of Youth… will be in 2019 in Panama.” Upon the announcement hundreds of young Panamanians in the front rows at the Campus of Mercy on the outskirts of Krako burst into celebration.

This is the first time that Panama will be the host of the Catholic event. In 2013, Brazil hosted the World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro with approximately 3.7 million people in attendance. Brazil’s WYD event had at second largest attendance in the event’s history, apart from Manila in the Philippines in 1987 where 5 million people gathered.