Up to 1 million people are expected to gather in Seoul for the closing mass of the 2027 World Youth Day (WYD), marking a historic moment as the global Catholic youth festival is held for the first time in a country where Christians do not hold a majority in the population. The WYD Seoul 2027 event, running from Aug. 3 to 8, 2027, will bring an estimated 400,000 international pilgrims from around 190 countries together with 100,000 domestic participants, the organizing committee said, Thursday. Sharing its detailed roadmap for the international event, Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of the Archdiocese of Seoul emphasized the deeper meaning of the gathering, pointing to the isolation faced by younger generations in the digital age. "We live in an era of disconnection," Chung, who also serves as head of the organizing committee, said at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul. "While we can reach each other instantly through the screens in our hands, it has become much harder to truly know one another. Young people today face constant comparison and competition, and even how we judge a pers