Bishop’s Column

As the month of August begins, a group of around 30 young adults will travel to Lisbon to join World Youth Day (WYD). The journey begins on July 31 and they will return on August 7. Together with hundreds of thousands – probably millions – of young people throughout the world they will join together with Pope Francis.

For this year's WYD's motto, Pope Francis has chosen a passage from Luke's Gospel: "Mary arose and went with haste" (Lk 1:39), which opens the account of the Visitation, when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth following the angel’s announcement to the Blessed Mother that she would be the mother of the Son of God.