One more piece of the World Youth Day was revealed this past Sunday, October 30th with the launch of the contest to select the lyrics of the Official hymn for WYD 2013.

Just like the official logo, the hymn is part of the identity of WYD. It will be the hymn that will help get youth into the spirit of the Brazilian WYD which will bring the Pope Benedict XVI to Rio in July 2013.

The announcement of the contest and  rules was made by the president of WYD2013 and Archbishop of Rio, Orani João Tempesta, fittingly, during the celebration of National Youth Day. In true Brazilian fashion, the national Youth Day was held at Samba city, in Rio de Janeiro. This was just the first of many events on the road to WYD.  Six thousand boys and girls gathered for the national Youth Day which was focused on “Building Relationships for life”.

The lyrics must be based on the theme from Matthew 28:19 Go and make disciples from all nations. Contestants have to be at least 18 years old, an the submissions will only be accepted from individuals or groups,  but not organizations.  Contest runs from November 1, 2011 to January 31, 2012. The winning entry will be announced in March. For full contest rules -in Portuguese- click here.

This is the second contest the organizational committee launched. The first was for the official logo. The results of that contest will be announced in December during a ceremony at the Christ the Redeemer sanctuary.