Vatican City, Feb 11, 2018 / 05:30 am
After the Angelus Sunday, with the help of a tablet and two young people, Pope Francis signed up for World Youth Day 2019 in Panama, announcing that registration for the international event has opened.
"I too, now, with two young people, sign up by means of the internet," the Pope said Feb. 11, clicking "register" on a tablet. "There, I have enrolled as a pilgrim to World Youth Day," he announced.
"We have to prepare ourselves. I invite all the young people of the world to live with faith and enthusiasm this event of grace and fraternity, both [those] going to Panama and [those] participating in their communities."
Pope Francis chose Panama to be the host of the next World Youth Day, an international gathering of youth which was started in 1985 by Pope St. John Paul II. Ordinarily held sometime in the summer months, in 2019 it will take place Jan. 22-27, to avoid Panama's rainy season.