VATICAN CITY, JUNE 18, 2001 (Zenit.org).- Russia, Turkmenistan, Laos, India, Benin and Congo are among the countries beginning preparations for World Youth Day 2002 in Canada.
Delegates of the bishops of these countries were in Rome this past weekend to attend the first international meeting to plan the event. The July 23-28, 2002, event already has attracted 400,000 reservations.
The weekend´s meeting was called by the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Canadian Committee for World Youth Day 2002. It gathered 100 delegates and representatives from various countries, youth movements, and associations.
Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, told Vatican Radio today that schools, parishes and families, where youths will be housed, have begun to mobilize.
The Canadian government has decided not to charge youths of developing countries the usual tax for a visa.
The official Web page for the World Youth Day 2002 is http://www.wyd2002.org.
