Fundação JMJ Lisboa 2023 is the legal entity behind the organization of the World Youth Day event (WYD) Lisbon 2023, happening in August 2023, in Lisbon, Portugal.

The WYD is the gathering of the Pope with young people from all over the world. It is a time to connect with others and to meet diverse cultures. It is a pilgrimage, a celebration of youth, and an expression of the Catholic Church. It is a time to create a bonded, cohesive community!

The WYD is open to everyone. There is no distinction regarding how close or distant you feel towards the Church.

Led by young people, the goal of the WYD is to promote peace, unity, and fraternity among peoples and nations around the world.

Guided by Pope Francis’ encyclical letters Laudato sí ¹ and Fratelli tutti ², the WYD Lisbon 2023 has, as one of its core principles, care for our common home – planet Earth. Within the organizing committee, there is a team solely dedicated to raising environmental awareness and working towards the most ecologically conscious WYD ever!

During the past 4 months, our project specialist, Kika Gusmão, has been a volunteer for the organization of this big event. Along with several others, she joined a group working towards making the WYD an environmentally positive event.

First session of the group working to promoting sustainability within the WYD. March 2022

The idea of forming a partnership between the WYD Lisbon 2023 and the Global Tree Initiative was born while meeting with this inspiring group of people. Restoring degraded land by planting trees was already on the table for the organizing committee so it was a natural fit.

An olive tree was the first tree dedicated to JMJ, in February 2022.

Olive tree planted and dedicated to JMJ, in February 2022

Moreover, as part of their awareness-raising strategy, the invitation to plant trees will be issued worldwide.

We are looking forward to seeing many trees dedicated to this WYD.

Thank you to the Fundação JMJ Lisboa 2023 for this wonderful opportunity to work together!

Thank you, Kika, for being a bridge between the GTI and Fundação JMJ Lisboa 2023! It is because of your big vision and hard work that this collaboration is possible.

You can visit the WYD Lisbon 2023’s website and learn more about this event. Be sure to stay tuned! There is exciting news coming!

¹ Laudato si is the second encyclical of Pope Francis. The subtitle of the encyclical is “on care for our common home”. In it, the pope critiques consumerism and irresponsible development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls all people of the world to take “swift and unified global action.” Wikipedia

² Fratelli tutti (All Brothers) is the third encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled “on fraternity and social friendship. The encyclical calls for more human fraternity and solidarity, and is a plea to reject wars. Wikipedia