Thousands of young people gathered in Rio de Janeiro for the release of the official song for World Youth Day Rio 2013, titled “Esperanca do Amanhecer” or “Hope of the Morning.”The song was composed by Father Jose Candido, who has written numerous liturgical hymns that are popular in Brazil. It was released during an event for young people on Sept. 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.
Brazilian singers Adriana, Eliana Ribeiro, Walmir Alencar, Olivia Ferreira and Leandro Souza lent their voices to the recording and performed the song live during the debut.
Fr. Candido, along with Archbishop Orani Joao Tempesta of Rio, and the Apostolic Nuncio to Brazil, Archbishop Giovanni d’Aniello, also attended the event.
“I think today is a beautiful day for all of us,” Archbishop Tempesta said.
“We are releasing the official World Youth Day Rio 2013 song, keeping in mind that out of 180 submissions, it was a difficult choice to make in order to create a song...that would convey the theme of WYD, 'Go and make disciples among all nations.'”
Organizers told CNA translations of the song into various other languages are not yet finished.
The lyrics to the WYD 2013 song can be found at: http://www.rio2013.com/pt/a-jornada/hino.
To see a video of the song, visit: http://www.rio2013.com/pt/multimidia/videos/127/Clipe-do-Hino-Oficial-da-JMJ-Rio2013.