I had never heard of World Youth Day until my youth minister mentioned about organizing a group of us to go last year. I’m sure for most of you, you’ve never heard of the event either.

World Youth Day is an event for teenagers and young adults from around the world organized by the Catholic Church every two or three years to celebrate Catholic faith and the youth of the world. This summer, the event was held in Kraków, Poland.

Now, this may seem pretty bland, but think about it: The Catholic Church of the world organizes youth groups from across the globe to come together, to one city, to grow as young adults and deepen their faith. I’d call it the “Coachella” of the Catholic Church because of how huge this event is. World Youth Day lures 1,000,000 teenagers and adults from all corners of the globe to come together. To put that into perspective, the population of the city of Kraków is close to 1,000,000 people. For a whole week, the population of an entire city doubled. Crazy right?

One unique aspect of this event is how people from all different countries, races, ethnicities, and backgrounds come for this event. Youth groups from every continent are represented: India, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Iran, Italy, Spain, Australia, South Korea, Philippines, Israel, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, China, Panama, Canada, Brazil, Lithuania, every state of the United States, and countless more. Name a country, and I’m sure I was in the crowds with them. Some might think that with so different people and countries packed into one place, it could cause some hostility and tension with the problems and issues countries have with their neighbors and enemies, but that tension was nonexistent in the city of Kraków for WYD. One word can describe the feeling everyone in the city was feeling that week, and what this event was really about: joy.

No one was there to judge others based off of their ethnicity or who they were. When you walked about the city, you would walk past people and yell “Hello!” to each other and ask where they were from. You would hear chants all along the streets of people rooting for their homeland, or yelling “Papa Francesco!” in anticipation for the Holy Father to arrive. You will see teenagers run up to one another to start a dance circle or trade items from each other’s countries or simply talk about themselves and where they came from. To be in a setting where the problems and hostilities of the world faded away, where everyone was experiencing excitement about being with so many others that share their faith, it was truly special to see.

All of the people at WYD added to what you could see and do for the week in Kraków. For the event, they had different talking sessions, concerts, and times for prayer and worship all around the city. For my youth group, we walked around the city, going into different churches, holy sites in Kraków, and explore in the city center to meet new people. We went to the United States English Talking session where we had worship and heard speakers talk to us about the difficulties the Catholic Church and the world faces with persecution and violence, especially in the Middle East. One highlight for my youth group during this talking session was when we were asked to lead a prayer to the 18,000 people in the audience, explaining about our ordeal in the shootings that happened in Munich. My youth minister said how in a time when we all were in fear, we still continued on with our journey to make it to WYD. After my youth minister said the ending of the prayer, all of the 18,000 people stood up and applauded us. It was amazing to see us make an impact like that.

With ceremonies, concerts, and cheering erupting in the city, the main event for WYD was the overnight prayer vigil, where youth groups would trek to an open field to camp out and wait for the Pope to arrive. Waiting in the sea of people was insane, with the blaring heat and 5-mile walk to get to our destination. Through the mass of people and finally reaching our spot, it was all worth it when Pope Francis finally arrived. With half a million people with us, he spoke to the crowd about his message to all of us at World Youth Day. Who knew a 70 year old man can be relatable to our generation, encouraging us to not be “couch potatoes” as he said; to not be the reserves on a bench in a soccer game, but to be the starters on the field; to leave a mark on the world and to not live in a paralysis of fear or shame, but to live our lives with joy and mercy and spread it where ever we go. His message was inspiring, and everyone in that field felt a sense of rejuvenation that night. After he spoke, everyone in the field was handed a candle to light and join together to have a time of prayer and worship. It was so peaceful and for me, it was uplifting to see so many enjoying the moment and believing in the words said by Pope Francis and in the same faith as me.

Everyone camped out under the stars that night, huddled in sleeping bags, ponchos, yoga mats, trying to catch a few hours of sleep to wake up the next morning to have mass lead by Pope Francis. For this event, anyone that wants to go to the mass is able to come. For the mass, 2.5 million people came to celebrate. It is incredible to believe that many people came to one place to celebrate mass, and amazing to think too how millions of others all over the world were having mass the same time as us.

After the mass is over, that officially concludes World Youth Day. I know I said a lot about this event, but this was only the tip of the iceberg to explain how surreal this event really is. This was a pilgrimage, meaning there would be times of hardship and times we had to sacrifice luxury to continue our journey. I didn’t mention the brutal heat, the pushing and shoving you experience when moving in a sea of people that never seemed to end, how we would walk 6-7 miles on average a day, how getting separated from your group was the biggest nightmare you could encounter, and how we slept outside where spiders, grasshoppers, and beetles probably slept with us. But after all of that and everything I saw, did, and learned, it was completely and 100 percent worth it.

To meet people from all corners of the globe; to gather with others to celebrate the faith we share and believe in; to learn not only about ourselves, but about our faith and the messages of spreading joy and mercy; and to be inspired by the words of Pope Francis to the youth of the world to make and be the changes our world and the Catholic Church needs; it was a surreal experience that has forever changed my life.

The next World Youth Day is in 2019 in Panama. I hope to go back in the next three years to gain something new, to experience a joy that is indescribable, and I hope to see you there too.