WYD 2023 Official Prayer
Our Lady of the Visitation,
you who arose and went with haste towards the mountain to meet Elizabeth,
lead us also to meet all those who await us
to deliver them the living Gospel:
Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord!
We will go in a hurry, with no distraction or delay,
but with readiness and joy.
We will go peacefully, because those who take Christ take peace,
and welldoing is the best wellbeing.
Our Lady of the Visitation,
with your inspiration, this World Youth Day
will be the mutual celebration of the Christ we take, as You once did.
Make it a time of testimony and sharing,
fraternization, and giving thanks,
each of us looking for the others who always wait.
With you, we will continue on this path of gathering,
so that our world will gather as well,
in fraternity, justice and peace.
Help us,
Our Lady of the Visitation,
to bring Christ to everyone, obeying the Father, in the love of the Spirit!
WYD 2023 Theme
«Mary arose and went with haste» (Lk 1:39) is the bible quote chosen by Pope Francis as the motto of the World Youth Day that will be held for the first time in the capital city of Lisbon, Portugal. The biblical phrase (a quote from the Gospel of St. Luke) opens the account of the Visitation (Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth), a biblical episode following the Annunciation (the angel’s announcement to Mary that she would be the mother of the Son of God, and the theme of the last WYD, in Panama).
Official theme song
The World Youth Day Lisbon 2023 theme song, entitled “Há Pressa no Ar”, was released this Wednesday, 27th January. The song, inspired on the WYD Lisbon 2023 theme [«Mary rose up and went with haste (Lc1,39)»], is about the ‘yes’ of Mary and about her rush to meet her cousin Elizabeth, just like the Bible verse says.
World Youth Day Application in AVOSA UAE.
The process for World Youth Day application in UAE is centralized and streamlined as per the vicariate. All youth from UAE parishes are going together as one group under AVOSA vicariate banner. The WYD application process always begins 15-18 months prior the actual world youth day. Announcement were made in all churches since March – April 2022 for almost 2 months on every weekend masses for all youth in the parish who are interested to join to register.
Since AVOSA Vicariate has closed registrations hence St. Mary’s have already closed their registrations accordingly. The vicariate is not accepting any new applications.
Click on the below link to visit the AVOSA World Youth Day vicariate website.
General World Youth Day Application Process in AVOSA UAE
1. The WYD Process always begins 15-18 months before the actual world youth day. Church Announcements are made in each and every parish requesting interested youth to register.
2. Once everyone submits their registration the candidates are then called for an interview with a panel with WYD Veterans youth who have attended WYD earlier.
Some of the criteria’s that an interviewer looks during the WYD Pilgrim interview and selection process are as follows
- How long have you been a parishioner of your parish? Please provide your Parish registration number.
- Are you part of any youthgroup in the parish? How long have you been part of your youth group? Please provide us with the youthgroup leader name, mobile number.
- Are you an active member of parish young adult ministry (YAM) for the last one year. could you tell us something about this ministry and how it helped you grow as a youth.
- Could you share your experience about the YAM programs like Lords Night, Taize Prayer, Outreach to Labour camps, or any other YAM organised program.
- Are your part of any other parish ministry like CCD (catechism), Volunteer Sodality, Lectors Ministry, Audio-Visual Ministry, Samaritans Ministry. Please give us a brief about your role in this ministry.
- Have you participated & volunteered for AVOSA Vicariate events like local World Youth Day, Lenten Retreat and other initiatives? (Please provide us with your brief experience about the event)
- Why do you want to participate as a Pilgrim or Volunteer? how do you think it will help you in your spiritual life?
- After coming back from WYD, how do you think you will share your experience with other youth and help the parish ministry to grow.
3. There is a background check done on each candidate and reviewed by the YAM Coordinator & YAM Spiritual Director along with the WYD veterans. (Only 60 youth were shortlisted from them for Dubai)
4. Confirmation email is sent to the selected youth. Formation session’s begun immediately after the interviews which are held monthly for pilgrims. All formation session’s are mandatory for pilgrim’s.
5. The entire WYD package amount is collected from pilgrim’s in installments from May 2022 onwards until Jan 2023. All pilgrim’s airline’s ticket’s reservations and pilgrim’s registration for Days in diocese and world youth day has already been completed by Jan 2023. Visa process will also be completed during this time as and when the embassy requests to submit all the document’s required for visa processing.
DXB Pilgrim’s Formation Session’s pictures.
(May 2022 – until now)
