Plans to help students register and fundraise
From August 3-8, 2027, World Youth Day will take place in Seoul, South Korea. The tradition began with Pope John Paul II in 1986 as a five-day celebration for youth on Christ the King Sunday. The celebration takes place every four to five years, and draws in millions of Catholics from around the world.
This past fall, UD campus ministry began advertising World Youth Day with a movie showing of “K Pop Demon Hunters,” a 2025 Netflix film that has enjoyed massive success since its release. As WYD is still over a year away, Campus Ministry plans to continue to advertise to students to help them register early and start raising funds to attend.
In addition, Campus Ministry plans to collaborate with the Asian Students Association (ASA) to emphasize the cultural elements of WYD taking place in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea.
Head of Campus Ministry Deacon Ryan Sales attended WYD 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal with students from the University of Dallas. Sales believes it is important for college students to attend the celebration.
“It’s an incredibly challenging time for Christians around the world, and yet as Pope Leo and President Sanford have said, we need to be courageous Catholics,” said Sales.
Sales also compares the celebration to Focus Ministries’s SEEK conference, which happens every year in different cities in the United States and draws in thousands of young Catholics in attendance. Groups of UD students attend SEEK every year, and Sales hopes to see similar numbers of students attend WYD next year. If 40 UD students attend WYD next year, the group will be big enough to receive their own guide for the 5-day event.
Campus Minister Franya Blanton, BA ‘23, attended WYD 2023 in Portugal as a recent graduate of UD. With her group, Blanton traveled to Fatima to see the sites of the miracles associated with Our Lady in the early 20th century.
In Seoul, Korea, students who attend WYD will be able to encounter a different spiritual environment than in the United States or Europe. While Portugal is known for its great miracles, Korea is known for its many martyrs. There are more Catholics in Korea than in Japan or China.
“There are a lot of similarities between the United States of America and Italy, Greece, and most of Europe […] But in this particular case, [traveling to] Asia is an exposure to a culture that makes up a significant part of the world population, and yet, in many ways, is very foreign to North Americans, and going there and experiencing the beautiful culture of Koreans who evangelized themselves. […] Korea, despite being relatively small, they self-catechized, and their faith was built and watered by the blood of the martyrs,” said Sales.
The University of Dallas attempts to send every student to study abroad in Rome and travel to Greece during their time as undergraduates. In 2027, UD hopes to send students to Korea, as well.