Announced: Themes for the next 3 World Youth Days

Hot off the press:

The Holy Father has chosen the themes for the next three World Youth Days so as to help build a spiritual itinerary that will culminate in the World Youth Day celebrations scheduled to take place in Madrid, Spain from 16 to 21 August, 2011.

- 24th World Youth Day (2009): "We Have Set Our Hope on the Living God" (1 Tim 4:10)

- 25th World Youth Day (2010): "Good Teacher, What Must I do to Inherit Eternal Life?" (Mk 10:17)

- 26th World Youth Day (2011): "Rooted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith" (cf Col 2:7)

The '09 and '10 WYDs will be held in Rome, 2011 in the Reino de Espana.

update: more from Whispers:

Slated to take up the entire third week of August 2011, interest in the Madrid gathering is already running quite high... and as further proof that Karol Wojtyla's beloved brainchild is here to stay, the jockeying for its 2014 follow-up has already begun in earnest.

update 2: The exact dates for WYD 2011 are August 15-21.