Great enthusiasm among volunteers for Rio WYD

January 11, 2013 - More than 63,000 volunteers have signed up for the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day (WYD) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in July, and 3,500 of them have already begun work. And with the start of the new year, more and more volunteers are registering every day, noted Archbishop Orani João Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro in an interview to Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. He hopes participants will enrol as soon as possible for the July 23-28 event, so that they are able to organize the hospitality better. Speaking about the accommodation of youth from around the world, the prelate who heads the local organizing committee, said they will provide hotels, private residences, as well as other kinds. The bigger events of the WYD will take place in two different areas: the famous Copacabana beach and the Guaratiba area, in western Rio the site of the vigil and the closing Mass of the World Youth Day on the last two days, which Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to attend.