Francis only announced that World Youth Day 2016 would be hosted by
the Polish capital Krakow a few days ago, but the event website is
already up and running.
“Krakow and Poland rejoice to become once again a
city and State of young people. We are happy that the Holy Father
Francis announced that the World Youth Day will be held at Krakow, in
Poland,” Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Metropolitan of Krakow and former
secretary of John Paul II said at the start of a video speech published
on the official website for World Youth Day (WYD) 2016. 
The website was created at record speech and was up and running just days after Francis’ announcement – amid the excitement of the concluding WYD Mass last Sunday in Rio de Janeiro – that the next youth event would be hosted by John Paul II’s home city.
The website, www.krakow2016.com, is available in six different languages: Polish, Italian, English, German, Spanish and French.
“Cardinal Dziwisz, John Paul II’s historic secretary, said that naturally the whole of Poland would be participating, including dioceses and all of Poland’s civil society and always, young people will inject their enthusiasm into the event.
The prelate, who spent almost twenty seven years by the Polish Pope’s side, stressed that “World Youth Days have always been linked to the great figure of John Paul I,” and the Archbishop hoped that “in the future we will be able to honour his birthplace as the homeland of a saint.
World Youth Day will therefore be a big day for the Blessed John Paul II, a thank you for his existence, for the person he was, for the love he showed young people and for all that he left behind – a great legacy we are still enjoying today. It continues to inspire young people and not only, to include Christ and His Mother, the Holy Virgin Mary in their lives.”
“Krakow will open its doors and rejoice at the arrival of young people from across the world! We are already sending out our invitation to young people, not just Poles, but Europeans and other young people from all continents across the world! We will do everything we can to welcome you in a cordial and dignified way, dear friends. And we ask you to bring enthusiasm and hope for the future to our country, because we need your moral support,” Cardinal Dziwisz went on to say.
In a recent statement about John Paul II, Dziwisz emphasised the fact that Krakow was the city where the former Pope left from, on his way to the Eternal City to serve as the Bishop of Rome in October 1978.
It was also where he launched World Youth Day when he was Pope. Krakow and Little Poland were where Wojtyla grew up. “Here, in this land, I was born. Here, in Kraków, I spent most of my life (...) Here, too, I experienced the grace of the vocation and took the holy orders (...). Here also, in Wawel Cathedral, I was ordained as bishop,” Wojtyla had said.
When Mgr. Eugeniusz Baziak passed away in 1963, Wojtyla was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow. Four years later, Pope Paul VI created him cardinal. On 16 October 1978, he was elected as successor of John Paul I.
As Pope, Wojtyla was to return to his homeland nine times: in 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2002.
Today, the “Don’t be afraid!” centre and the Blessed John Paul II shrine in Poland are home to John Paul II’s relics and constitute the spiritual legacy left by Karol Wojtyla to his fellow nationals.
“We want to build on this legacy in a creative way; we want to compare new challenges in light of that thinking and pass it on to future generations,” Cardinal Dziwisz said.