World Youth Day 1986

Location – Rome, Italy

Theme: “Always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope you have” (1 Peter 3:15)

The very first official World Youth Day was held in 1986, in Rome, Italy. In Pope John Paul II’s homily, he proclaimed what his intentions for World Youth Day would be. Pope John Paul II said to the youth , “World Youth Day means just this, going to encounter God, who entered into the history of man by means of the Pasqual Mystery of Jesus Christ. He entered in a way that cannot be undone. And he desires to meet you above all.”

Return to the World Youth Day page.