Some of the key events will include both an opening and closing Mass, a vigil with the Pope followed by spending a night at the Cuatro Vientos aerodrome, the Stations of the Cross and catechesis sessions. There will also be a wide variety of cultural events taking place in the city, such as the exhibition, “The Word Made Image — Paintings of Christ in the Prado Museum” and a charity soccer match between a select group of former Spanish soccer players and others from around the world at the Vicente Calderon stadium.

The last World Youth Day took place in Australia in 2008. Other past host nations include Poland, Germany and the Philippines, where an estimated record four-million people attended the closing Mass.

But it is said that World Youth Day doesn’t go to an easy place, said Christian Elia, director of the Office of Catholic Youth of the Archdiocese of Toronto. “It goes where it’s needed,” he said. “It’s not just for Catholic youth to assemble and have a Catholic Woodstock, it’s also for the local people to open up their hearts and minds, get back on track and take their faith seriously.”

For Stefanie Romano, bus co-ordinator for the OCY pilgrimage to Madrid, this will be her third World Youth Day experience.

She said she felt a huge spiritual transformation at her first pilgrim experience in Toronto.

“It almost felt like a taste of heaven how intense the joy was and the connection and the belonging,” said Romano. “From then on, I felt like my faith was on fire and it never really died down.

“It was being part of the physical body of Christ in action that really transformed me.”

In Madrid, Romano is really looking forward to taking part in adoration — one of the highlights of World Youth Day in Australia, she said.

“You are struck with the awe of the Holy Spirit… It feels like home, but you’ve never experienced it before. It’s familiarity in an unfamiliar environment.”