St. Casimir's Young AdultsWorld Youth Day: Seoul 2027
Every few years, young Catholics from all over the world spend a week together in one city for World Youth Day. In 2027 it's Seoul.
Spots are limited, so sign up early.
“Take courage! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
Seoul 2027 is only the second World Youth Day held in Asia (the first was Manila in 1995), and the first ever hosted in a country where Christians are a minority: Catholics make up roughly 12% of South Korea's population. It's also the first World Youth Day of Pope Leo XIV's papacy. Pope Francis announced the host city at WYD Lisbon in 2023, before his death in 2025.
The official song & invitation
The theme song, Confidite, Ego Vici Mundum (“Take Courage, I Have Overcome the World”), dropped in two versions: a full choir-and-orchestra arrangement, and a pop version built for a stadium of young people to actually sing along to. Both are straight from the official WYD Seoul 2027 channel.
The official invitation
Theme song
There's also a pop version of the theme song if that's more your speed.
The patron saints
Five saints named as spiritual patrons of the event, announced in April 2026.
St. John Paul II
The pope who invented World Youth Day itself, back in 1985.
St. Andrew Kim Taegon
Korea's first native-born priest, martyred in 1846. The host country's own saint.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
An Italian-American missionary who built hospitals and orphanages for immigrants across two continents.
St. Josephine Bakhita
Kidnapped into slavery as a child in Sudan, later a religious sister. Patron of trafficking survivors.
St. Carlo Acutis
A teenager who catalogued Eucharistic miracles online before his death in 2006. The first millennial saint.
photo: Ethan Doyle White, CC BY-SA 4.0 · photo: Dulceridentem, CC BY-SA 4.0
Days in the Dioceses
Before the main events even start in Seoul, most pilgrims spend a few days scattered across the rest of the country. It's a WYD tradition, not a Seoul-specific one. From July 29 to August 2, 2027, pilgrims live with host families and take part in ordinary parish life across Korea's 15 dioceses before everyone converges on Seoul for the main week: homestays and local parishes, a slower and more personal introduction to the country than a stadium of a million people would give you.
The Archdiocese of Seoul alone has over 230 parishes signed up to host pilgrims.
Korea's 15 dioceses
Sign up for WYD Seoul 2027
This replaces the paper deposit form. Register online from your member page, then bring your deposit and passport copy in person to complete your registration.
Then, to complete your registration:
- Bring your $300 deposit and a copy of your passport to the group.
- Sign the printed form (and have a parent sign it if you're under 18).
- The sooner the better: spots are limited.
- Questions? Contact
What this means for us
It's the kind of event people from parishes just like ours go to every few years, as part of the wider Oblate family we belong to.
Seoul is next summer, and planning for how our parish might take part is already in the works. If you want to go, come to a meeting and ask about it. Most people get there through the parish, not on their own.