Eight hundred British Catholics have arrived in Rio in Brazil for World Youth day. The Pope arrived for the week long gathering yesterday as the first ever Latin American pontiff where 2.5 million people are expected to participate.
Austen Ivereigh from Catholic Voices is in Rio and described the scenes on Premier's News Hour: Pope Francis is scheduled to tour a slum, meet young prisoners and hold three public Masses during World Youth Day events from July 23-28. 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.
Musician Edwin Fawcett is in Rio too. He told Premier Drive it's going to be a special event:
Since 2002, World Youth Day has been held every three years.
After the 2011 event the next World Youth Day was scheduled a year earlier than usual, in 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in order to avoid any conflict with the 2014 FIFA World Cup being held in 12 different host cities throughout Brazil and the 2016 Summer Olympics being held in Rio de Janeiro.