WYD Lisbon 2023 is in fact, first of all, the WYD with the largest number of participating countries ever: pilgrims from all the countries of the world, with the exception of the Maldives, have registered. An almost “full” WYD that still leaves room for improvement, but which already clearly says how much over the years, and with the succession of Pontiffs, the event has truly become an appointment capable of involving young people from all over the globe.
The officially registered pilgrims number over 354,000 - a figure that is destined to rise considerably over the course of the week, as the experience of past editions has already taught us: the passage through the dioceses of Portugal and finally to Lisbon of the first pilgrims will attract even more young people for the central events on Saturday (vigil) and Sunday (Sending Mass).
As for the list of the countries with the largest number of registered participants, Spain dominates, taking advantage of its geographical proximity to bring in over 77 thousand young people; followed by Italy (almost 60 thousand); the host country in third place, with over 43 thousand young Portuguese; and then France (42 thousand) and the United States (19 thousand).
Such numbers necessarily also require the involvement of many young volunteers: no less than 25,000 have registered and have been working for weeks or days to serve other young people around the world. And if young Portuguese are the ones, of course, in the front line in this role, there is no shortage of international volunteers, mainly from: Spain, France, Brazil, Colombia.
Leading the groups of pilgrims, then, is a good number of clergy, secular or religious. And of course, the leaders of the many dioceses involved cannot be absent. That is why, next to the Bishop of Rome, there are also many purple and crimson birettas seen in Lisbon: there as many as 688 pilgrim bishops at WYD 2023, 30 of whom are cardinals - not counting the future cardinals already announced, such as the Rector Major, who has already been among his young SYM members for days and will be created a cardinal at the end of the month. In the list of nationalities with the largest number of bishops, Italy stands out, with about one sixth of the total (109), followed by Spain (70), France (65), the United States (61) and Portugal (36).
Nor should it be forgotten that an entire city has been mobilised to receive this flood of young people, making available 1,626 public places for accommodation, a capacity of almost 300,000 people, as well as 8,831 families welcoming more than 28,000 pilgrims. And, moving on from accommodation to food, a network has been set up to feed the WYD youth, involving 1,800 establishments and providing a total of more than 2.7 million meals on the various days.
If more than 5,000 journalists and media operators have come to report on this great meeting of Church and youth, it means that in addition to the central events with the Pope then numbers are even greater. WYD animates an infinite range of other events, such as those hosted within the Youth Festival: over 600 events in 90 different venues, and more than 2,500 artists involved.
Finally, a note on sustainability: to those who worry about the environmental impact of such an event, it should be pointed out that, in keeping with the spirit of caring for the Common Home advocated by the Pope and embraced by the thousands of young pilgrims in Lisbon, there are 17,980 trees that have been planted and dedicated to WYD.
