1.5 million people are expected to attend the main activities of WYD.
The three largest delegations are those formed by:
- 171,979 pilgrims from Poland
- 77,224 pilgrims from Italy
- 30,861 pilgrims from Spain
New this year will be delegations from Kosovo, Bangladesh, Gibraltar, Palestine, Burma and South Sudan.
The Salesian Youth Movement at WYD will see:
- 5600 young people from the 5 continents.
The three largest delegations are those formed by:
- 1,600 from Poland
- 1,150 from Italy
- 500 from Slovakia.
The delegation coming from furthest away will be that of Australia.
The presence of young people from the Salesian Youth Movement in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt will be a symbol that challenges the world. They will form a single delegation from the Middle East and will participate together with the delegations of Italy-Piedmont.
The numbers speak for themselves: it is clear that young people want to celebrate and witness their faith in Christ, but the figures cannot account for the help and efforts of so many young people to seek economic resources and make it possible for other young people to attend WYD.
The figures are big but they do not reveal the true intention that drives many young people to participate in the WYD - generosity and charity lived to the fullest extent.
