“It is my hope that the journey towards the World Youth Day in Panama and the process of preparation for the Synod will move forward in tandem”. Pope Francis wrote this in his Message for the upcoming World Youth Day that will be held at the diocesan level this year on the theme: “The Mighty One has done great things for me” (Lk 1:49). “In October 2018, the Church will celebrate the Synod of Bishops on the theme: Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment”, Pope Francis recalled. “We will talk about how you, as young people, are experiencing the life of faith amid the challenges of our time. We will also discuss the question of how you can develop a life project by discerning your personal vocation, whether it be to marriage in the secular and professional world, or to the consecrated life and priesthood”. The Pope started by recalling the “great meeting in Krakow”, where “we celebrated the Thirty-first World Youth Day and the Jubilee for Young People as part of the Holy Year of Mercy”. “We took as our guides Saint John Paul II and Saint Faustina Kowalska, the apostles of divine mercy, in order to offer a concrete response to the challenges of our time”, he said. “We had a powerful experience of fraternity and joy, and we gave the world a sign of hope”, Pope Francis continued: “Our different flags and languages were not a reason for rivalry and division, but an opportunity to open the doors of our hearts and to build bridges”. After Krakow 2016, Panama 2019, the Pope recalled: this new leg of our journey, on which we will be accompanied by the Virgin Mary, “picks up from the one that preceded it, centred on the Beatitudes, and invites us to press forward”.