VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The week-long Jubilee of Youth begins Monday and will see hundreds of thousands of young people gather in Rome for an event that is being compared to World Youth Day.

From July 28 through August 3, the Jubilee of Youth is taking place at the Vatican and around Rome, forming one of the key events on the official calendar of the 2025 Jubilee Year.

Official estimates suggest that at least 500,000 people will be present for the week-long series of pilgrimage events, whilst up to a million are anticipated to join Pope Leo XIV for the closing Mass on Sunday.

Young people from all across the globe will gather in Rome, with national bishops’ conferences liaising with local parishes to host the pilgrims and stage language-specific events. Additionally, various pilgrimage routes have been created through the ancient city, linking churches and shrines together for the Jubilee participants to visit.

Youth from nearly 150 countries are registered to attend, with nearly 80 percent coming from Europe.

In order to accommodate such a large influx of people 370 churches, 400 school buildings and gyms, and even private family homes will erect makeshift beds for the hundreds of thousands of youth.

The Jubilee had been organized to feature the canonization of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati as the highlight. However, due to the pausing of all such procedures following the death of Pope Francis, his canonization is now to take place on September 7 along with that of Blessed Carlo Acutis, whose canonization date was replaced by Pope Francis’ funeral.

Prior to the much-anticipated Sunday liturgy, a Mass held in St. Peter’s Square on Tuesday evening will serve as the first large-scale event for all the pilgrims together. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, will preside over the Mass, given his key role as coordinator of many of the events on the Vatican’s official Jubilee calendar.

August 1 is billed as a “penitential day” with the official focus of the calendar being for pilgrims to avail of the Sacrament of Confession.

But the Vatican’s chief efforts have been concentrated on the August 2 prayer vigil and August 3 papal Mass situated not at the Vatican but near the University of Tor Vergata, which is found even outside of Rome’s ring road. This harks back to the World Youth Day of 2000, during which Pope John Paul II also celebrated the closing Mass of the event at Tor Vergata for around 2.5 million people.

Southeast of the city, Tor Vergata complex has been set up to cater for crowds of up to a million strong, which will be no easy feat given the notorious heat of the Roman summer.

Briefing journalists on the event, Rome’s Mayor Roberto Gualtieri stated that over 20,000 people were involved in planning the event, featuring security personnel, health professionals, firemen and cleaning staff. Police forces from all across Italy will send personnel to assist the effort and – as expected with the presence of the Pope – the airspace above the site will be closed.

Jubilee participants will arrive August 2 for an afternoon of music and “testimonies” before being joined by the Pope for a 90-minute prayer vigil. They will then camp out in the open overnight, before having a Mass offered by Leo XIV the next morning.

A series of restoration works has been in place throughout the city in the lead up to the Jubilee Year, with many still remaining unfinished. After the quiet periods of COVID-19, Rome has been faced with an influx of tourists and pilgrims which has only increased during the Jubilee Year.

This week will be both a test of the city’s infrastructure as well as the true depth of the resources of the Diocese of Rome.