WYD 2027 Seoul Pilgrimage Indianapolis/Cincinnati ·  August 2027

Our pilgrimage begins today as we depart on our overnight flight bound for Seoul. We carry with us the intentions of our parish and the hope of all that lies ahead; to travel not as tourists but as pilgrims, setting out by one road and trusting that we will return home changed. Meals and drinks served aloft.

Upon arrival at Incheon International Airport, we are met by our Pilgrimage Manager, who will accompany us throughout our days in Korea. This afternoon we complete our World Youth Day registration and collect our pilgrim packets. After transferring to our hotel and settling in, we gather this evening for a welcome dinner. This is our first evening together as a pilgrim community on Asian soil, on the eve of the first World Youth Day ever held in mainland East Asia. (D, Mass if time allows)

Today the pilgrimage we have so long prepared for opens before us. With hundreds of thousands of young people drawn from every corner of the earth, we take our place for the World Youth Day Opening Mass, celebrated by the Archbishop of Seoul. The theme chosen for these days — “Take courage! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) — will echo through every Mass, every song, and every silence in the days to come. (B, D, Mass)

This morning we join one of the catechetical sessions offered across the city, where bishops from around the world teach, lead prayer, and open the Scriptures with the young pilgrims gathered before them. The afternoon and evening bring the Youth Festival — music, witness, cultural encounter, and the quiet grace of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, offered freely to all who seek it. (B, D, Mass)

Another morning of catechesis gives way to one of the most moving moments of the week. This evening we gather with the universal Church and the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, for the Stations of the Cross — walking the road of the Lord’s Passion together through the heart of Seoul, our prayers rising with those of pilgrims from every language and land. (B, D, Mass)

The festival continues with further catechesis and a full day of cultural and prayerful activities throughout the city. These are days to encounter the Church not as an idea but as a living family — to make friendships that cross oceans, and to discover that the courage of the Korean martyrs still beats in the young Church of today. (B, D, Mass)

The morning is ours until we begin the journey on foot to the vigil site — a walking pilgrimage undertaken rain or shine, in the company of the whole gathered Church. As night falls we keep watch with Pope Leo XIV in a candlelit vigil and, like pilgrims of every age, sleep beneath the open sky, our hearts turned toward the Mass that will crown these days. (B, D, Mass)

This morning we take part in the great closing liturgy, the Papal Missioning Mass, at which the Holy Father sends the young people of the world home as missionaries of hope. We are sent, as the Magi once were, to return by a different way — carrying home not souvenirs but the seeds of grace planted in these days. This evening we gather for a farewell dinner to give thanks for all we have received. (B, D, Mass)

Today our pilgrimage draws to a close as we transfer to the airport for our return flight home. We leave Korea filled with the memory of her martyrs and the joy of a Church gathered from the ends of the earth — returned, by a different way, changed and not merely traveled. (B)