Brazilian city expects to receive at least 40,000 youth before WYD

January 03, 2013: The World Youth Day – WYD - will be held in Rio de Janeiro, but the city of São Paulo will host at least 40,000 young foreigners before the event. In this stage prior to WYD, pilgrims will remain in the Brazilian metropolis for at least five days, where they will participate in the "Missionary Week."

The Archdiocese of São Paulo, which does not include the entire city, will accommodate about 30,000 foreign youth. The diocese of Santo Amaro and Campo Limpo, in the south of the capital of the State of São Paulo, together receive about 7,000 pilgrims from abroad.

The Church will find accommodation for the guests in schools and seminaries and also in the houses of the faithful. "The problem will be to ensure that at least one member of the host family is always at home," said Father José Roberto do Prado, of the Ministry of Youth.

Before being selected, the available families will be evaluated to ensure they are in a position to accomodate the pilgrims. Many families say that the language could be a problem, but the Bishop Tarcisio Scaramussa said that "the Church will produce a handbook with basic expressions to communicate."

"There are 1,500 families registered for hosting pilgrims," said Father Marcos de Miranda, from the Diocese of Santo Amaro.