Ecumenical International Youth Day 2026 will be commemorated on 13 August under the theme “Creating Healing Spaces: R.E.S.T. – Restore, Empower, Strengthen, Thrive,” inviting young people, churches, and faith communities around the world to become active agents of healing, restoration, reconciliation, and hope.
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Photo:
Mark Anthony N. Cuyos
The online commemoration will take place in two sessions, at 9:00 CEST and 15:00 CEST, enabling young people and faith communities from different regions and time zones to participate—combining prayer and creative presentations with reflection on the “breaches” affecting communities, examples of healing initiatives, re discussion in breakout groups
This year’s Ecumenical International Youth Day comes at a time when young people are navigating deeply interconnected challenges, including war and conflict, social injustice, discrimination, economic hardship, violence, political instability, mental health struggles, climate anxiety, and spiritual disconnection.
Against this backdrop, the 2026 theme recognizes that young people are not only seeking spaces of healing—they are already creating them. In churches, schools, communities, organizations, and online spaces, young people are demonstrating compassion, solidarity, love, and care through listening, supporting others, speaking out against injustice, accompanying people experiencing vulnerability and exclusion, and building more inclusive communities.
World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive for Young People in the Ecumenical Movement Abigayle Bolado said “the theme’s focus on R.E.S.T.- Restore, Empower, Strengthen, Thrive, calls attention to the importance of healing oneself to become a safe space for others; restoring relationships and communities from the breaches; strengthening our capacity to advocate for justice; and working together for the healing of the world, and maintaining the dignity of the whole creation. This is the time to encourage again, our churches and faith groups to be a channel of healing and light, especially at times like this.”
Grounded in the biblical call of Isaiah 58 to become “repairers of the breach,” the commemoration will encourage participants to identify the wounds and divisions affecting individuals, families, churches, communities, and the wider world—and to consider how they can contribute to healing and restoration.
Photo:
Albin Hillert/WCC
“I am inspired by how this year’s Ecumenical International Youth Day invites young people to embody the healing that lies at the heart of the church’s calling, a healing that restores relationships, bridges divisions, and renews hope across communities and continents,” said Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, WCC programme director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation.
Nalwamba added that “this commemoration reminds us that unity is not merely a theological ideal but a lived practice of accompaniment, justice, and care, and I am grateful to witness young ecumenical leaders already modelling what it means to be repairers of the breach in their own contexts.”
“Our young people carry the weight of inherited pain while also navigating the challenges of today. As people of faith, we are called to create spaces of healing: spaces where they can breathe, belong, and be restored. When our youth heal, our families, our communities heal too,” said Oli
Ecumenical International Youth Day 2026 will be organized by the WCC youth engagement desk in partnership with the Middle East Council of Churches Youth, and Pacific Conference of Churches Youth, together with the WCC programmes on Health and Healing and Ecumenical Diakonia.
The initiative will continue beyond the international commemoration through regional conversations and the Ecumenical Youth Hub: Healing Spaces, encouraging participants to consider what happens in the months following the call to create healing spaces and how healing can be connected with the wider mission of the church.
It also contributes to the 2023–2030 strategic goal of networking and coordinating young people in member churches and international youth organizations to work together on common issues.
Through conversations, reflection, shared experiences, and collective action, the 2026 commemoration seeks to inspire more young people to become agents of healing in their churches, communities, and everyday lives-and to encourage churches to become places of refuge, restoration, belonging, justice, and peace.
