World Youth Day 23

Welcome to the information, formation and resource page for the North Queensland Education pilgrimage to World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, Portugal and the Holy Land, in August, 2023.

Pilgrimage offers pilgrims unique opportunities for spiritual renewal and wellbeing. Harvest Journeys will take pilgrims on a journey to sites where the physical meets the spiritual and the extraordinary enters the ordinary. They partner with the world’s best pilgrim ground-operators and guides who share a passion for the sacred and impart knowledge about holy and historical sites, expertise about local cuisine and customs, and provide a welcoming experience and unique care and insight at each stage of the journey.

Pilgrims will depart Australia from Brisbane on Saturday, 29 July for Portugal and return from Jerusalem on Wednesday, 16 August, arriving Brisbane Thursday 17 August, after journeying through Lisbon, Fatima, Bethlehem, Jericho, Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, Cana, Mt Tabor, Caesarea Philippi, Mount of Beatitudes, Haifa, Mount Carmel, Caesarea Maritima and Jerusalem. 

Should you require further information please contact the Pilgrimage Coordinator Louise Vella-Cox on 0408 294 705 or lvellacox@tsv.catholic.org.au 

WYD Portugal Holy Land Pilgrimage ITINERARY

Travel info

Monday - 7th August

• Departure from Lisbon at 01:00 am via coach to Madrid Airport (8-hour journey).
• Flight departing from Madrid Airport at 11:40 am, arriving at Tel Aviv Airport at 17:25 pm

Accomodation

Key People

Louise Vella-Cox
Pilgrimage Coordinator - TSV
E: lvellacox@tsv.catholic.edu.au
M: 0408 294 705

Ian Davis
Pilgrimage Coordinator - CNS
E: idavis@cns.catholic.edu.au
M: 0407 121 044

Fr Joseph Reddy Dondeti SVD
Chaplain
E: jrdondeti@tsv.catholic.org.au 
M: 0435 036 823

Formation and Resources

Important Links

World Youth Day Lisbon website 
World Youth Day Lisbon YouTube Channel 
WYD23 Lisbon Facebook
Visit Portugal 
Visit Lisbon  
Holy Land Sites
Smart Traveller 
Harvest Journeys

Key Events and Information

Opening Mass and WYD Vigil locations announced

Because World Youth Day is inspired by Mary, who rose and set out in haste to meet her cousin Elizabeth, because it will take place in Lisbon, known as the city of the "Seven Hills," and because we want this to be a time of encounter and grace for all who participate, Park Edward VII will be called "Colina do Encontro" and Tagus Park will be called "Campo da Graça”.

The name "Colina do Encontro" evokes the encounter with the Living Christ, the first objective of the World Youth Day. Then, it evokes the experience of the young Church in Lisbon, which wants to go out to meet everyone. It also evokes the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth, a true intergenerational encounter, marked by joy. "Meeting Hill" also recalls the meeting of Pope Saint John Paul II, the much revered founder of WYD, with Lisbon in 1982, in Parque Eduardo VII. It will be in this same location that young people will meet Pope Francis for the first time at WYD Lisbon 2023.

The name "Campo da Graça" comes from the fact that the pilgrims will head to Tagus Park in thanksgiving to celebrate the Vigil and the Final Mass of a week that will surely remain in the hearts of all forever. WYD is, in the words of Pope Francis, "an event of grace that awakens, broadens the horizon, strengthens the aspirations of the heart, helps to dream, to look beyond.

The WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation wishes that these names – Colina do Encontro and Campo da Graça - may endure in the memory of all those who will participate in the largest gathering of young people from around the world with the Pope and, most especially, in the hearts of all the inhabitants of the city of Lisbon and Loures.

Travel Tips

Overseas Power Tips

Here is some information for Power needs for Portugal  and Israel