On Monday, 3 August 2026, exactly one year before the opening of World Youth Day (WYD Seoul 2027), the official hymn for the event was launched. WYD Seoul will take place from 3 to 8 August 2027. Entitled Confidite, Ego Vici Mundum, “Take courage! I have conquered the world,” the hymn draws its inspiration from the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John 16,33, which is the biblical theme chosen for WYD Seoul.
By Geoffrey Boriga *
The release of the hymn was much more than the launch of a new song. It marked the official beginning of the final year of preparation for an international gathering that will bring young people from every part of the world together in Seoul.
The hymn carries a strong message of courage, hope and Christian faith. It acknowledges the fears, darkness, weariness and uncertainties that dwell in the hearts of many young people today, while reminding them that none of these realities has the final word.
Christ’s words, “I have conquered the world,” thus become an invitation to continue the journey with confidence, because the Lord never abandons his disciples. He walks with them.
The hymn also recalls the image of light and Jesus’ words: “You are the light of the world.” Young people are therefore invited not only to receive the light of Christ, but also to illuminate one another’s path, becoming signs of hope, encouragement and fraternity.
For this reason, Confidite, Ego Vici Mundum is not simply the official hymn of a major international event. It is also a prayer and a missionary call: to encounter Christ, to allow ourselves to be transformed by him, and then to carry his light into our communities, our families and our countries.
The international character of the hymn is already evident in both its origin and its composition. Written by South Korean composer Francis Jiyoon Kim, the hymn was selected from 434 submissions, 294 of which came from outside Korea. Its very creation is therefore a reflection of the international spirit that will define the World Youth Day gathering in Seoul.
The composition brings together: Korean, English, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese, blending Korean musical identity with contemporary sounds. It is a beautiful image of what WYD seeks to be: different languages, cultures and sensibilities coming together and becoming one voice in the universal Church.
The message of the hymn also takes on a particular resonance in the Korean context. The Catholic Church in Korea has behind it a profound history of persecution and martyrdom, while the Korean people continue to live with the painful reality of the division of the peninsula.
The call to courage, hope and reconciliation therefore acquires a twofold dimension. It speaks to the heart of every young person, while also carrying a particular echo in the heart of Korea.
Listen here to the official hymn of WYD Seoul 2027:
Following the release of the hymn, another significant moment in the journey towards Seoul 2027 took place over the weekend of 8 and 9 August 2026. It was the 2026 Catholic Culture Expo, held in the heart of the Korean capital, near the Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway, Seoul City Hall and the Seosomun Annex.
Promoted by the WYD Organising Committee, the Expo welcomed the faithful and the wider public. It offered an opportunity to discover the richness of the Catholic Church in Korea through its culture, spirituality and community life.
The event opened with a time of prayer and a blessing imparted by Archbishop Peter Chung Soon, Metropolitan Archbishop of Seoul and President of the WYD Organising Committee. This gave the entire initiative a deeply spiritual character.
Numerous ecclesial realities took part in the Expo, including religious congregations, spiritual and apostolic movements, youth communities and pastoral groups serving migrants. Their booths enabled visitors to discover different charisms, ministries and forms of Christian life. A special area was also dedicated to WYD, offering visitors the opportunity to learn more about the international gathering that Seoul will welcome next year.
In any case, this was not simply an exhibition. The Vocation Café created opportunities for dialogue with religious men and women, as well as with married couples, on the theme of vocation and Christian life. The Reconciliation Park, meanwhile, provided a space for silence and reflection, as well as the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In other words, the Expo became an experience of faith, encounter and celebration.
The Consolata Missionaries also took an active part in this important gathering. The Missionary and Vocational Animation team, led by Father Han Martino, was joined by Father Lee Benigno, Father Geoffrey Boriga and a group of lay collaborators coordinated by Rosa Kang and her husband, Thomas. Fathers Lourenço Tala and Kim Giuseppino also participated, contributing to the presence and mission of the Consolata family throughout the Expo.
The presence of the Consolata family was particularly evident in the Vocation Café and at the stand dedicated to spirituality. There, visitors had the opportunity to learn more about the Consolata Missionaries, Saint Joseph Allamano, our Founder, and Our Lady Consolata.
The booth offered a small window into the history, spirituality and missionary activity of the Institute. Face to face conversations and explanations were complemented by printed and audiovisual materials. These included information on the spirituality of our Founder and his canonisation by Pope Francis in 2024, the prayer to Our Lady Consolata, the missionary magazine, and photographs and videos presenting the life and work of the Consolata Missionaries in different parts of the world. In this way, the booth became a small doorway opening onto the great world of mission.
A simple language game added a particularly missionary touch to the Consolata Missionaries’ booth. Visitors were invited to exchange the greeting of peace in different languages: Korean, Mandarin, Italian, Portuguese, Kiswahili, Spanish, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Greek, Mongolian and English. One person would greet another in a particular language, and the other person had to respond in the same language. Simple? Certainly. Yet precisely because of its simplicity, the activity attracted a great deal of attention and became a spontaneous opportunity for dialogue, smiles and encounter.
It was also a simple, concrete and enjoyable way of showing just how international the Consolata family is. Many languages, many cultures and many peoples, yet one missionary vocation. The inclusion of Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Greek may perhaps be attributed to the influence of Father Geoffrey Boriga. Yet the activity also revealed a small oversight: French was missing, and some visitors even asked for Amharic, the language spoken in Ethiopia. Next year, these languages certainly cannot be missing!
The presence of the Consolata Missionaries at the Expo was made possible by the generous commitment of the volunteers. They continued to serve with enthusiasm despite temperatures in Seoul reaching around 38°C. Their warm welcome, availability and dedication transformed the booth into a true place of encounter. Through their service, the participants had the opportunity to discover something of the history, spirituality and missionary life of the Consolata family. It was a modest presence, but a meaningful one.
The participation of groups such as the Consolata Missionaries showed that the international dimension of this event is already taking shape in Seoul. It is emerging through different languages, diverse charisms and a variety of missionary experiences. It is a small seed planted along the great journey towards Seoul 2027.
In many ways, the Expo was a kind of dress rehearsal for WYD. Prayer, culture, vocation, reconciliation, music, hospitality, mission and international participation came together, on a smaller scale, in a single experience.
The Expo showed that preparing for a WYD is not simply a matter of organising venues, programmes and structures. Above all, it means preparing people and communities to welcome others, to open themselves to encounters with different cultures, and to share the richness of the Catholic faith.
The hymn and the Expo, in the end, tell the same story through two different languages. The hymn gives voice to the spiritual dimension of the journey. The Expo, instead, offers a concrete experience of it. One invites young people to take courage and become a light for others. The other shows how that light can become welcome, service, culture, prayer and encounter.
The 365 days that remain, then, are no longer simply a number on the calendar. They are a preparation that has already begun and is being lived through prayer, music, cultural encounters, service and missionary collaboration.
When, in August 2027, thousands of young people from every part of the world arrive in Seoul, they will not be entering a project that appeared overnight. They will discover a journey that has already been prayed, sung, celebrated and experienced. It is a journey in which the Church in Korea is opening her doors, while the universal Church prepares herself for this encounter.
The hope is that these young people may encounter Christ and experience the beauty and universality of the Church. May they then return to their own communities, carrying with them the words that resound at the heart of the WYD hymn: “Take courage! I have conquered the world.”
* Father Geoffrey Boriga, IMC, a Consolata Missionary in South Korea.
