World Youth Day, the biggest event in the Catholic Church

VATICAN CITY: World Youth Day, which takes place next week in Lisbon in the presence of Pope Francis and an expected one million pilgrims, is the largest Catholic event in the world.

Initiated in 1986 by Pope John Paul II, the global gathering is normally held every two or three years, although the calendar was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and the most recent World Youth Day was in Panama City in 2019.