World Youth Day (WYD) is an international Catholic celebration for young people held every two or three years. The last edition, held in Madrid in 2011, attracted over two million youths, and this year’s event, which was held in Rio De Janeiro last week, brought in an even bigger attendance.

Each edition of WYD has a specific theme, and this year’s was Go and Make Disciples of all Nations (Matthew 28:19), with Pope Francis encouraging young people to prepare themselves well spiritually – individually as well as in their respective communities – so that WYD will truly bring the faith to the whole world.

To mark the occasion, the Kummisjoni Djoċeżana Żgħażagħ (KDZ) has released a song called Tama t’Għodwa locally. The song was written by Fr Ġorġ Ocar Buttigieg, and is the second WYD-related release by KDZ, further to 2011’s Sħaħ fil-Fidi.

The local production of the song was translated from the original Portuguese version of the official WYD 2013 anthem, Esperança do Amanhecer, with the help of Fr Ugolin, a conventual Franciscan priest who for many years worked as a missionary in Brazil, and Richard Vassallo, who assited in the adaptation of the translated lyrics to the music.

The local version was produced at Tone Studios by Andrew Zammit and features six local singers, namely Charlene Zammit, Christine Camilleri, Kurt Cassar, Mark Laurence Zammit, Matteo Depares and Simone Gauci. The filming of the acompanying footage was done by Richard Cassar of Videopower.

Tama t’Ghodwa was inaugurated last April at Crave on the Valletta Waterfront and reflects the message embodied in this year’s WYD theme with the aim of bringing this message to the Maltese youth.