John Paul II’s ‘Revolution’ in Denver: Cardinal Stafford Remembers World Youth Day ’93, by Jean Torkelson, Kevin Knight

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Cardinal J. Francis Stafford in May 2023 (photo: Jean Torkelson / NCRegister)

The host of the historic event reflects on its legacy 30 years later.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of World Youth Day in Denver — a worldwide gathering that Pope St. John Paul II would later call a “revolution.” The host of the Aug. 12-15, 1993, event, Denver archbishop emeritus Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, looks back on the historic “ecclesial experience” and reflects on its legacy in the Church today.

World Youth Day changed this city forever, and were coming up on the 30th anniversary. How did it end up in Denver?

World Youth Day in Denver was rooted in something that happened in 1989. That year, Pope St. John Paul II called a meeting of the archbishops of the United States with himself and heads of Roman dicasteries in Rome. It was prompted, it seems, by misunderstandings between the U.S. bishops and the Holy See. …

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