World Youth Day 2002
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| Date | July 23, 2002- July 28, 2002 |
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| Location | Toronto, Canada |
| Type | Youth festival |
| Theme | You are the salt of the earth ... you are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:13-14) |
| Participants | John Paul II |
The 17th World Youth Day 2002 (WYD2002) was a Catholic youth festival held July 23-July 28, 2002, in Toronto, Canada. World Youth Day is a celebration of faith begun by Pope John Paul II held on an international level every two to three years, and WYD2002 was the 10th such event. It was also Pope John Paul II's last World Youth day. An estimated 400,000-500,000 youths from all over the world participated in the week-long festival. Although WYD is designed for Catholics, it attracts sizable numbers of youths from other faiths and denominations and was presented as a multi-faith celebration of young people from all over the world.
As the event is ultimately an expression of faith, and a critical expression of faith is through service to others, World Youth Day 2002 had the support of some 25,000 volunteers; and some 100,000 pilgrims themselves spent three hours each on one of 750 service projects.
The theme of the event was "You are the salt of the earth ... you are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:13-14).
The groundswell of Catholic spirituality following World Youth Day 2002 in Canada led to the establishment of Canada's first national Catholic television network, Salt + Light Television. Fr. Thomas Rosica, who was the National Director of WYD2002, is also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of this new television station.
World Youth Day 2002 solidified Days of the Diocese, held in various dioceses - with the majority in Montreal, Quebec and London, Ontario - as a major component leading up to the actual WYD Celebrations.
The scale is massive: Days of the Diocese involved the participation of 35 of Canada's 72 dioceses. Events in various communities welcomed pilgrims from all over the world with music, prayers, and cathechetical sessions.
The week-long World Youth Day Celebrations involved the use of some 129 Catholic churches and 7 halls at Exhibition Place, 10 stages (as well as Downsview Park and 5 other parks in Toronto), 30 seminars, 10 prayer experiences, 300 vocational or service group exhibits, 10 cultural gatherings.
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