As hundreds of thousands of young
Catholic pilgrims descend on Brazil, World Youth Day coordinators in
Rio de Janeiro are putting the finishing touches on preparations for up
to 2.5 million people.
By July 15, more than 320,000 people had registered for the event.
Media
coordinator Carol Castro said many pilgrims will register when they
arrive, and many will participate in the events without being
registered.
The countries with the greatest numbers of pilgrims registered are
Brazil, Argentina and the United States, but young people are coming
from as far away as the Philippines and Slovakia.
More than 8,400 priests from all over the globe requested credentials
for the event. Approximately 5,500 journalists have been given
credentials to cover Pope Francis' first international trip.
Castro said 55 percent of registered pilgrims are women and 60 percent
of those coming are ages 19-34. About 300,000 beds were made available
in family homes, sports centers and schools in Rio.
Officials said more than 270 locations are available for catechetical
session in 26 languages, including Polish, Latvian, Mandarin and
Flemish.
They said 60,000 volunteers, of whom 7,000 are foreigners, will be on
hand during the week to help and direct pilgrims to the events in Rio.
Nearly 800 singers, dancers, actors and musicians will be participating
in the main events.
Catholic officials will have 4 million hosts for consecration, and 100 confessionals will be at hand for pilgrims.
Pope Francis will greet pilgrims on a stage overlooking Copacabana beach
July 25. For those unable to get to the main stage, organizers have set
up two large and 16 smaller screens and 26 sound towers.
The July 27 vigil will be outside the city at a site equal to
approximately 150 soccer fields.
The venue has been dubbed Campus Fidei,
Latin for Field of Faith.
This is also the site for Pope Francis' July
28 Mass with young people, who can watch on 33 large outdoor screens if
they cannot see the altar.
To make things more comfortable for pilgrims spending the night, the
area will have 4,673 portable bathrooms, 270 of which were adapted for
people with disabilities.
More than 12 million liters of water will be at hand for pilgrims, distributed in 177 locations throughout the area.
The Brazilian armed forces has been put in charge of guaranteeing the
security of pilgrims at Campus Fidei. The army will have 1,500 people
stationed inside Campus Fidei while the national security force will
have 1,300 people patrolling both inside and outside the vigil area.
For the entire event, security for pilgrims will count on more than
10,200 military units. The number of members of the armed forces to be
used to guarantee security for pilgrims was increased from 8,500 after
the recent socio-political protests in several cities in Brazil.
Pope
Francis will be guarded by 600 military personnel as well as 80 people
from Brazil's federal police and Vatican police who accompany Pope
Francis on his visit.