2023-07-30 14:58:00
July 30, 2023 / 7:58 a.m.
This Sunday, July 30, after the Angelus, Pope Francis entrusted the Virgin Mary to pilgrims and young people from all over the world, on the occasion of the next World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, Portugal, which will take place held from August 1 to 6.
In Saint Peter’s Square, the Pontiff asked the faithful to accompany him with “prayers” during his 42nd international trip to Portugal, which will begin next Wednesday.
Before the Marian prayer, on the eve of WYD in Lisbon, the Pope also encouraged young people not to become “spiritual retirees”, that is, to avoid mediocrity and routine in their spiritual lives.
“Many young people from all continents will experience the joy of meeting with God and with their brothers, guided by the Virgin Mary, who after the annunciation ‘rose up and left without delay’ (Lk 1:39)”, Pope Francis said reference to the biblical quote that he chose as the WYD motto.
“I entrust the pilgrims of WYD and all the young people of the world to her, the luminous star of the Christian path, so venerated in Portugal,” said the Bishop of Rome, who will also visit the sanctuary of Fatima, which was added as a stage to the trip of the WYD.
Francis wants to pray in a special way to Mary for the end of the war in the heart of Christian Europe and for all wars.
During his brief stay in Fátima, where the Pope will arrive by helicopter on Saturday, August 5, it is expected that he will tour the compound in the ‘popemobile’ to the Chapel of Apparitions, there he will pray the Rosary and address a few words to the pilgrims before to return to Lisbon.
This will be the second time that the Holy Father visits the Marian sanctuary, the destination of thousands of pilgrims each year, where, in May 1917, three shepherd children -two already saints; the third, venerable – received a message from the Virgin Mary. The Pope had already visited him on May 12 and 13, 2017, on the occasion of the centenary of the Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Cova de Iria.
WYD in Lisbon will be the fourth World Youth Day presided over by Pope Francis after those in Brazil (2013), Krakow (2016) and Panama (2019).
The event, which this year brings together millions of young people from all continents, takes place in the Portuguese capital. Initially scheduled for 2022, as the Holy Father had announced on January 27, 2019 in Panama, the XXXVIII WYD was moved to the following year due to the coronavirus emergency.
The director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, reported on July 27 that more than 330,000 young people from 200 nations were already registered for WYD in Lisbon.
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