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« You are the future of the world, the hope of the Church. You are my hope ! » (John Paul II, 13 March 1983). With these words the Holy Father Pope John Paul II inaugurated the International S. Lorenzo Centre for Young People, a place of welcome, and of meetings for the youth of the whole world.

The first mission of the Church entrusted to the Emmanuel Community, the Centro San Lorenzo is a privileged place to experience the mission of the Church, young, alive, and beautiful through the witness  of youth from the whole world and the great availability of the members of the curia.

Everything is done to welcome young people, individually or as a group. San Lorenzo in Piscibus is a twelfth-century church,whcih was probably originally situated in a fish market (!). Now stripped of later decorations and modernized, it is situated very near the Vatican, two steps from St. Peter's Square. Next door there are facilities for meeting groups of young people or inidividuals.

The Centre also plays a part in the World Youth Days. On 22 April 1984 the Pope entrusted the "Pilgrim Cross" of youth to the Centre as a sign for young people all round the world of God's love for humanity. The cross and the WYD Icon (a copy of the famous icon in the Pauline Chapel at S. Maria Maggiore in Rome) stay in the church until they are needed for the next WYD.

Most days it is possible to adore the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, to attend Mass in different languages, or to go to confession in the Church fo San Lorenzo in Piscibus.

Pilgrims can attend Mass from Monday to Thursday at 6.00 pm ; there is an hour of Eucharistic Adoration starting at 5.00 pm immediately beforehand.

Besides, all are invited to pray on Fridays from 4.00 pm until 6.30 pm, when a Mass is celebrated by a cardinal or bishop. 

In addition, the Centre is able to help you organize group visits of Rome and the Vatican.

The Centro San Lorenzo welcomes pilgrims all year round (except during August) from 11.00 am to 7.00 pm, Monday through Friday. Do not hesitate to contact us before or during your trip to Rome. His Holiness John Paul II opened the Centro San Lorenzo in 1983, and placed it under the responsibility of the Pontifical Council on the Laity. Its mission is “to give an authentic witness to the Gospel” in such a way that young pilgrims arriving in Rome and searching for Christ will encounter the living Church through contact with the volunteers of the Centre. The Centro San Lorenzo has become a place of welcome, prayer, sharing, and fellowship.

This initiative has flourished as the fruit of the collaboration between the Pontifical Council on the Laity and the Emmanuel Community, to whom the coordination of the Centre was confided in 1983.