Over 600 youth from Croatia are participating in WYD in Toronto. Organized in four groups, they may be considered the “lucky ones”, because the high cost of the travel represents a major problem for Croatia. The 600 Croatian participants will be joined by a group of young Croatian emigrants. In Toronto the youth are being given accommodation by the Croat Catholics who live in Canada, and who have also offered to cover a part of the cost of their stay. Many difficulties have been experienced by Croat citizens in obtaining the necessary visas to enter Canada. Even though the Canadian Foreign Minister decided to grant free visas for the occasion, young Croats who undertook military service between 1990/2002 will be unable to participate in the WYD, due to the difficulties in obtaining visas. Another problem was posed by Great Britain which, just for transit through the airport in London, asked all the young participants to pay for a particular visa. During the days of WYD the young Croats will be recognizable thanks to a special “anthem”, composed by the group from Split. The official anthem of WYD has also been translated into Croat.
