GAD3 has been chosen by the WYD to carry out a survey among Catholic youngsters attending this event in Krakow (Poland) with Pope Francis. The poll was conducted in nine languages, interviewing 7.400 youths from more than one hundred countries, finding out their profile and motivations for taking part in this event.

1. Research on Krakow’s 2016 WYD participants
Presentation of results
July 11, 2016

2. Summary
2
The WYD, an event to find oneself through Jesus Christ
More than half a million youngsters will travel to Poland, to meet Pope Francis at Krakow’s 2016 WYD. What are they like? What are they looking
for? What will they do during those days? An online survey among more than 7,400 pilgrims from more than one hundred countries carried by the
consultancy firm GAD3, tries to answer these questions. The poll has been done in the first ten days of July, in the nine official languages of the
WYD: English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian.
Three out of four (75.4%) very much want to find themselves through Jesus Christ. Taking part in an event with Pope Francis (65.6%), living new
experiences (65.6%) and helping spreading the word of the Lord (58.9%) are also other widely stated motivations among respondents to the survey.
For two out of three (67.4%) this will be the first WYD, and for those who took part in a previous WYD, it was a very positive experience (78.8%).
The average age is 22 with a slight majority of women. One in four will be from Poland (25.5%). Besides, Italy, Brazil, France, Spain, Portugal, the
United States, Mexico, Argentina and Germany will be the countries from which more pilgrims will come to the WYD.
Great desires of being better. Maturing and becoming a better person are rated as ‘very much’ for the majority (81.5%) when asked to what extent
they think that faith in Jesus Christ is positive for. Being kind and helping the poor and needy (76.2%), as well as building a better world (75.7%), are
other realities that believing in Christ they think is useful for. All these figures, plus the fact that 77.1% acknowledge that WYDs have influenced their
lives, lead to conclude that Krakow’s WYD will be a life-changing experience for many.
Attending the WYD, a unique religious experience to be shared with other people. The poll also found that more than 3 in 4 people (79.6%) who
will take part in this event will attend it either with a religious group or an association, or with a parish. A wide range of pilgrims who also show
other common patterns, such as how they will get to Krakow. The majority of those attending the WYD with a parish will reach the Polish city by bus
(49%), only seven points more than those going with a religious group, for whom buses will also be the main mean of transportation.
The WYD, a great chance to visit other countries. The survey also reveals that nearly six in ten pilgrims travelling to Poland (57.8%) will also visit
other nations. The most preferred options are: Italy (35.2%), Germany (32.6%), the Czech Republic (31.2%) and Austria (28.9%). Not surprisingly,
those coming from further away are more likely to visit other nations: the 80.8% of pilgrims from the American continent will travel to other
countries.

3. Attendance to previous WYDs
16,2
18,9
2,9
4,9
1,4
2,3
1,0
0,3
0,3
0,7
0,2
0,1
0,1
Río de Janeiro (Brazil) 2013
Madrid (Spain) 2011
Sidney (Australia) 2008
Cologne (Germany) 2005
Toronto (Canada) 2002
Rome (Italy) 2000
Paris (France) 1997
Manila (Philippines) 1995
Denver (US) 1993
Czestochowa (Poland) 1991
Santiago de Compostela (Spain) 1989
Buenos Aires (Argentina) 1987
Rome (Italy) 1986
Have you attended a World Youth Day
before?
Which one/s?
32,4
67,4
0,2
Yes No Don’t know/Decline to answer
3

4. Rating the WYD
How would you rate these Youth Days?
[only answered by the 32.4% who attended a previous WYD]
78,8
19,6
0,9
0,5 0,2
Very positive Positive
Indifferent, neither positive nor negative Negative
Very negative Don’t know/Decline to answer
4

5. Journey to Krakow
4,5 5,0 3,5
5,6
1,9 2,6 3,6
9,0
35,8
10,1
3,5 4,3
6,4
4,3
Before
18th
Mon. 18 Tue. 19 Wed. 20 Thu. 21 Fri. 22 Sat. 23 Sun. 24 Mon. 25 Tue. 26 Wed. 27 Thu. 28 Fri. 29 After
29th
Arrive Krakow
When do you plan to arrive in Krakow? And when do you plan to leave Krakow?
7,4
3,4
29,1
36,0
12,6
4,2 2,2 1,6 3,4
Before 30th Sat. 30 Sun. 31 Mon. 1 Tue. 2 Wed. 3 Thu. 4 Fri. 5 After 5th
Leave Krakow
5
JulyJuly/
August

6. Date of arrival by means of transport
6
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
Bus Plane Train Car
When do you plan to arrive in Krakow? vs. How do you plan to travel to Krakow?
% of total
Day of arrival

7. Date of leave by means of transport
7
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
Before 30 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 After 5
Bus Plane Train Car
When do you plan to leave Krakow? vs. how do you plan to travel to Krakow?
Day of leaving
% of total

8. Going with who?
40,1 39,5
11,7
4,1
2,5 2,1
With a religious
group or an
association
With a parish With friends Alone With family
members
With a school
Who do you plan to attend the World Youth Day with?
8

9. Transportation to Krakow
41,0
32,1
16,9
3,0
0,3
2,0
4,7
Bus Plane Train Car Bicycle or motorbike Other Still undecided
How do you plan to travel to Krakow?
9

10. Accommodation in Krakow
16,5
15,8
10,7
9,0
3,4
2,6
2,1
1,7
10,2
28,0
Foster family
Parish
Hotel or the like
Sports centre
Campsite
With friends or acquaintances
With family
Rented house
Other
Still undecided
Where do you plan to stay?
10

11. Transport & Accommodation by groups
How do you plan to travel to Krakow? & Where do you plan to stay?
vs. Who do you plan to attend the World Youth Day with?
11
Bus Plane Train Car Other
Still
undecided
Total
With a parish 49% 26% 18% 1% 2% 4% 100%
With a religious group
or an association
42% 36% 13% 2% 2% 5% 100%
With a school 40% 41% 16% 1% 1% 1% 100%
With family members 17% 31% 19% 25% 3% 5% 100%
With friends 25% 35% 23% 7% 3% 6% 100%
Total 41% 32% 17% 3% 2% 5% 100%
Foster
family
Parish
Hotel or
the like
Sports
centre
Campsite
With friends or
acquaintances
With
family
Rented
house
Other
Still
undecided
Total
With a parish 18% 19% 10% 10% 3% 1% 1% 1% 8% 29% 100%
With a religious group
or association
16% 15% 12% 9% 4% 2% 1% 1% 12% 28% 100%
With a school 13% 11% 19% 9% 3% 1% 1% 16% 30% 100%
With family members 9% 8% 14% 2% 2% 8% 17% 9% 7% 23% 100%
With friends 15% 11% 8% 6% 4% 9% 5% 5% 11% 25% 100%
Total 16% 16% 11% 9% 3% 3% 2% 2% 10% 28% 100%

12. Visiting other countries?
Apart from Poland, do you plan to visit any other countries? By continents
57,8
37,0
5,2
Yes No Don’t know/Decline to answer
12
Excluding Polish pilgrims
80,8
70,0
67,5
57,8
45,9
38,6
America
Oceania
Asia
Total
Africa
Europe
Pilgrims coming from:

13. Visiting other countries?
13
Excluding Polish pilgrims

14. Spoken languages
84,4
43,3
24,5
23,1
21,9
19,7
16,1
English
Spanish
Polish
Italian
French
Portuguese
German
Which of the following languages do you understand and which do you not understand?
14

15. Motivation for attending the WYD
75,4
65,6
65,6
58,9
53,3
50,8
44,7
40,9
32,6
18,8
26,1
25,2
29,9
33,2
33,1
36,1
30,8
32,9
3,9
6,6
6,0
8,4
10,3
11,5
15,0
19,7
20,4
1,3
1,6
2,7
1,9
2,7
3,9
3,8
7,1
12,7
0,7
0,2
0,6
0,8
0,6
0,7
0,3
1,4
1,3
To find myself through Jesus Christ
To take part in an event with Pope Francis
To live new experiences
To help spread the word of Jesus Christ
To satisfy my spiritual curiosity
To be with like-minded people
To meet people
To discover my real life purpose
To discover Poland
Very much Somewhat Slightly Not at all Don’t know/Decline to answer
Please rate to what extent the following motives have led you to attend these World Youth Days,
on a rating scale of very much, somewhat, slightly or not at all
15

16. Faith in Jesus Christ
81,5
76,2
75,7
73,3
71,8
61,7
59,0
53,2
50,4
16,3
20,3
19,7
20,8
24,0
29,5
30,3
30,6
35,7
1,2
2,2
3,1
4,2
3,1
6,7
8,1
11,9
11,1
0,6
0,8
0,8
1,1
0,7
1,4
1,6
2,9
2,0
0,5
0,4
0,7
0,7
0,4
0,7
0,9
1,4
0,8
Maturing and becoming a better person
Being kind and helping the poor and needy
Building a better world
Accepting suffering and being happy
Understanding others
Being responsible
Having clear ideas
Becoming more independent and less
manageable
Studying or working better
Very much Somewhat Slightly Not at all Don’t know/Decline to answer
Based on your experience, to what extent do you think that faith in Jesus Christ is positive for…?
16

17. Rating the WYD
76,1
72,4
72,0
60,2
20,7
23,6
24,6
31,4
2,2
3,0
2,5
6,6
0,5
0,5
0,3
0,8
0,6
0,5
0,6
1,1
They help to strengthen the religious
commitment of youth with the Church
They are a platform for spreading the word of
the Church worldwide
Help spread faith in Jesus Christ
They strengthen the commitment of youth
with the society in which they live
Very much Somewhat Slightly Not at all Don’t know/Decline to answer
To what extent do you believe that the Youth Days…?
17

18. Influence of the WYD on your life
And to what extent have the World Youth Days influenced your life...?
39,0
31,2
6,9
2,0
20,9
Very much Somewhat Slightly Not at all Don’t know/Decline to answer
18

19. Participation in activities
86,1
60,5
52,5
46,7
32,7
Attend Sunday mass
Spend time praying
Carry out any voluntary activities
Form part of an Apostolic group
Recite the Holy Rosary
Do you participate in any of the following activities?
19

20. Pilgrim’s profile: gender and age
Gender
20
Groups of age
35,2
64,8
Male Female
9
19
16
13
11
9
7
6
10
less
than 17
17-18 19-20 21-22 23-24 25-26 26-27 28-29 30 or
more
Average age: 22 years

21. Pilgrim’s profile: country of residence
25,5%
13,6%
9,9%
6,6%
6,3%
4,9%
3,1%
3,1%
2,0%
1,7%
1,3%
1,3%
1,1%
1,1%
1,1%
1,0%
0,9%
0,9%
0,9%
13,8%
Poland
Italy
Brazil
France
Spain
Portugal
United States of America (USA)
Mexico
Argentina
Germany
Colombia
Guatemala
Philippines
Peru
Australia
Ukraine
Canada
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Other
Which is your country of residence?
21

22. Pilgrim’s profile
8,5
28,3
63,2
Primary level or lower
Secondary level
Third level
Level of education Current employment status
59,9
35,1
4,7
0,3
Student
Employee
Unemployed
Retired
22

23. Pilgrim’s profile
Who do you live with?
75,6
9,0
6,6
5,1
3,7
With my parents Alone With my spouse or partner With friends In a home
23

24. Presence on social networks
89,8
46,0
45,5
14,6
5,1
1,1
7,1
29,3
18,1
33,5
17,0
5,4
3,1
24,8
36,4
51,9
77,9
93,5
Facebook
YouTube
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Periscope
I often use it I have an account, but I barely use it I don't have an account
Do you tend to use any of these social media sites?
24

25. Messaging tools
66,6
42,3
39,4
5,7
2,2
Whatsapp
Skype
Snapchat
Telegram
Line
Do you often use any of these messaging tools to communicate with your friends or family
members?
25

26. Survey details
26
Universe: pilgrims attending Krakow’s 2016 WYD
Sample: 7.446 completed interviews from more than one hundred different countries.
Data-gathering process: online interview, self-managed questionnaire by means of CAWI
system (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing).
Margin of error: ± 1,2% (N=7.446), for a 95.5 level of confidence (two sigmas) and in the most
unfavorable hypothesis of P=Q=0,5, in the postulation of simple random sampling.
Language of the questionnaire: English, Polish, Spanish, French, Russian, Italian, Portuguese
and Ukrainian.
Duration of the interview: 7-8 minutes approximately.
Interviewing dates: July 1 - 10.
Institute: GAD3

27. Countries in the sample
27

28. Questionnaires (English version)
28

29. Questionnaires (English version)
29

30. Questionnaires (Polish version)
30

31. Questionnaires (Polish version)
31

32. Team
32
Sara Morais
Head of the Research team
Degree in Economics and Law.
Narciso Michavila
Project Manager
President of GAD3. PhD in Sociology.
Puy Campo
International Consultant
Degree in Marketing and graduate studies in Leadership & Management.
David Iglesias
Head of the Communication team
Degree in Journalism and a MD in Political Management.
For more information on the survey and the results, the team can be reached on:
Email: press@gad3.com
Telephone: +34645727363
GAD3 is a company specialized in sociological research and consultancy. Based in Spain, it
also carried a survey among pilgrims to the WYD in Madrid in 2011.