For three days, from 16^th to 18^th August, hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims will be walking down Via della Conciliazione, the whole of  which, right up to within the Bernini colonnade, will become a virtual “open-air basilica”.  This will be the pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter, turned into a great act of teaching and instruction in the faith.  The young participants in the 15^th World Day of Youth will be accompanied by prayers, hymns, and meditations during the journey that will lead them up to the holy door.

The groups, in turn, according to pre-arranged and well-spaced timetables (20,000 every two hours) will gather in Piazza Cavour.  From there, the ”Jubilee Pilgrimage” will begin, taking them along Via della Conciliazione until they reach the Holy Door  at the threshold of St Peter’s Basilica.  The reflections they hear will follow the Gospel text of the Beatitudes.  Afterwards, the pilgrims will move on to the Circus Maximus.  During their journey they can pause to visit some of the famous churches of the city centre;  then, in the Circus Maximus itself, they will take part in the “Festival of Reconciliation”.  In order to ensure that all can take part, the Eucharist will be celebrated four times in various languages and at different times, to match the commitments of the groups of pilgrims.  The most suitable time will be suggested to each group, in relation to the time that their Jubilee pilgrimage begins, and these times will be staggered in order to ensure that all can partake, and that the flow of pilgrims will be carefully handled.  For the young people it will be a day of penitence, with a strongly spiritual character.

Routes and places symbolic of the Christian history of Rome will be suggested to those taking part in the Jubilee of the Young. The lives and works and sacrifices of dozens of men and women of faith will be a true testimony and concrete exhortation to consistent loyalty to Christ.  All necessary indications can be found in the “Pilgrim’s vademecum” given to all who register, which guides the pilgrims along the routes that can be taken, enabling them to distribute their presence around the city and avoid congesting it.