New Delhi: World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church.World Youth Day was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985.
For the first celebration of WYD in 1986, bishops all over the world were invited to schedule an annual youth event to be held every Palm Sunday in their dioceses.
It is celebrated at the diocesan level annually, and at the international level every two to three years at different locations.
Crowds of people crammed into buses, scrambled to find taxis or walked to Copacabana beach for an evening mass to officially kick off World Youth Day on Tuesday.
Despite the traffic trouble and some rain drops, the Vatican said 560,000 pilgrims from around the world made it to the beach, singing, waving flags and praying as Rio Archbishop Orani Tempesta led the mass.
Latin America's first pope, who arrived Monday, rested in a hillside residence but sent a message to his flock via Twitter: "Dear young friends, Christ has confidence in you and he entrusts his own mission to you: Go and make disciples."
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