This summer Toronto, Ontario is the host city for World Youth Day 2002 (July 22, 2002 - July 28, 2002)

From more than 150 countries, over 750,000 young people aged 16 to 35 will gather in Canada in July 2002. They have been invited by Pope John Paul II to make a pilgrimage to the Father as disciples of His Son, Jesus Christ. They will come to celebrate their faith, encounter the Church and engage in various missionary and service activities. The first World Youth Day was in Rome in 1984 during the United Nations Year of Youth. Since then, gatherings have been held in:

1984 Rome
1987 Argentina
1989 Spain
1991 Poland
1993 Denver, U.S.A.
1995 Philippines
1997 Paris
2000 Rome

Millions of hearts have been set aflame during these extraordinary gatherings of faith. In speaking of his love for young people, the Pope explained World Youth Days in Crossing the Threshold of Hope:

"No one invented the World Youth Days. It was the young people themselves who created them. Those Days, those encounters, then became something desired by young people throughout the world. (They) have become a great and fascinating witness that young people give of themselves. They have become a powerful means of evangelization. In the young there is an immense potential for good and for creative possibility."