The announcement – by Kevin Farrell, the US cardinal who is prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, which organises the event – came at the closing mass of the 2019 WYD, which ended on Sunday in Panama City.

The choice of Lisbon to host the next WYD was expected, as it had been trailed by Portuguese officials for several weeks. Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, had travelled to Panama to attend this year’s event in anticipation of the announcement, accompanied by the mayor of Lisbon and other political figures.

The previous WYD was held in 2016 in Kraków, Poland.