Pope Francis has left for Lisbon, where more than a million young people from the five continents have been waiting for him for days to celebrate with him the XXXVII World Youth Day, inaugurated yesterday, August 1. The Pope will remain in the Portuguese capital until Sunday the 6th. The airbus in which he travels, an Ita Airways A320neo with zero CO2 environmental impact, took off at 8:00 am from Fiumicino airport where the Pope arrived aboard a car black, received by the mayor of Fiumicino and other local authorities.
Greeting a group of young people and grandparents in Santa Marta
Before leaving, as was customary, Francis greeted a group of people accompanied by Cardinal Almoner Konrad Krajewski at his residence in Casa Santa Marta. On this occasion, as a note from the Vatican Press Office reports, there are about fifteen people, among them “some young people, girls and boys, who are living a period in a rehabilitation community, and therefore do not They can participate in the Youth ». He present with them three grandparents with their grandchildren. “This meeting, as well as the recently celebrated World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly – underlines the Vatican Press Office – underlines the bond between generations, which can support and learn from each other”.
The telegram to Italian President Mattarella
On board the plane that accompanies the Pontiff on his 42nd apostolic journey is the entourage, some seventy journalists from international newspapers and the crew. The landing at the Figo Maduro Air Base is scheduled to take just over three hours, with a time difference of one hour from Rome. In Portugal, Pope Francis, on his 42nd apostolic journey, will remain until August 6. Leaving Italian territory, Pope Francis sent the usual telegram to the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in which he shares the “joy of meeting young people from all over the world” and expresses the hope that these young people “prompted By faith and eager to ‘get up and go’, they draw strength from the encounter with Christ and are encouraged in the search for the truth and the meaning of life”.
Prompt response from Mattarella who, in a message, wrote to the Pope: “The apostolic journey on the occasion of the 37th World Youth Day represents an extraordinary opportunity to meet many young people from all over the world, who will bear witness to friendship and in the faith, confidence in the future and the will to build a more inclusive and supportive world. I address to you, Holiness, my affectionate thoughts together with the expressions of the deepest consideration.
First day commitments
Upon his arrival in Lisbon, the Pope will be received by the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, with whom he will then spend a short time in the VIP room. Immediately afterwards, he will travel by car to the National Palace of Belém, the official residence of the head of state, for the welcome ceremony and courtesy visit to the president, followed by the usual meeting with the political and religious authorities, at the Cultural Center. from Belem. After lunch, Francisco will receive the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Ernesto dos Santos Silva, and Prime Minister António Costa. The last engagement of the day is at the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria di Belém for Vespers with the local clergy.
Dating with the youthful world
The morning of the Pope’s second day in Lisbon, on August 3, will open with a meeting with young university students at the Portuguese Catholic University, where the Pontiff will bless the first stone of the Campus Veritatis. At 11:40 a.m. the Pope is expected in Cascais, 35 km away, by other young people gathered at the headquarters of the Scholas Occurrentes. In the afternoon, at 4:45 p.m., the first of the great events with young people from all over the world will take place in Parque Eduardo VII, a large green area in the center of Lisbon where the welcome ceremony will take place, which will end with the “Time of Shipment”. The next day, August 4, Francisco arrived at the Vasco da Gama Garden, renamed “Parco del Perdono” by WYD, and confessed with some boys and girls. With ten of them, at noon, he will have lunch at the Apostolic Nunciature. Eduardo VII Park.
Prayer in Fatima and vigil with the youth
Fatima is the first destination of the fourth day, August 5. Here there will be another moment of prayer with the sick youth. The Pontiff will arrive by helicopter to the town of the three little shepherds and by car he will arrive at the Shrine, to then greet the faithful gathered for his visit in a popemobile. Later, having arrived at the Chapel of the Apparitions, he will pray to the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Fatima. At 9:30 a.m., I pray the Rosary, with guided mysteries in several languages, followed by a reflection by the Pope, who will greet some young people before leaving the Shrine.
Back in Lisbon, Francisco will go to the Colégio de São João de Brito, where, behind closed doors, the meeting with the members of the Society of Jesus in Portugal will take place. Finally, at night, he has the most anticipated appointment: the vigil in the Parque del Tejo. Francis will arrive there at 8:15 p.m. and in the popemobile he will travel the length and breadth of the large green space where young people from all over the world gather, who will live a prayer divided into three moments, followed by the Pope’s speech, the exhibition of the Eucharist and the blessing.
WYD Mass 2023 on August 6
The last day of Francis in Lisbon, Sunday, August 6, is that of the Mass that culminates WYD 2023. The event also takes place in Parque Tejo, where the Pontiff returns at 8:15. As is the tradition, the celebration will end with the delivery of the World Youth Day crosses to some representatives of the five continents, then the Pope will announce the place and year in which the next WYD will take place and then he will recite the Angelus. Before beginning the last meeting of the Pope with the WYD volunteers on the Passeio Marítimo de Algés. Immediately after, transfer to the Figo Maduro Air Base for the farewell ceremony. Takeoff to Rome is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.
Pope Francis boards the papal plane at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport as he begins his Apostolic Journey to Portugal to take part in World Youth Day in Lisbon.
