2023-08-04 00:08:03
Pope Francis asked the young people participating in the World Youth Day held in Lisbon this Thursday not to be fooled by the “algorithms” and “illusions of the virtual” in the welcoming ceremony of the first great massive act of this Catholic event, for which the authorities expected between 200,000 and 400,000 participants and which had nearly half a million young people.
Perspective Writing
Pope Francis took the floor, this time to scare away young people from that virtual world that “knows who you are, but doesn’t love you”. «God calls you by name means that for Him you are not a number, but a face, a face and a heart. I would like you to see one thing: many today know your name, but they don’t call you by your name. In fact, your name is known, it appears on social networks, it is elaborated by algorithms that associate tastes and preferences with it,” the Pope warned.
He added: «These are the illusions of the virtual and we must be careful not to be deceived, because many realities that attract us and promise happiness later show themselves for what they are: vain things, soap bubbles, superfluous, substitutes that leave us empty. inside,” the Pope said.
Credit. ACI Press
Francis also spoke to them about a Church in which “there is space for everyone” and in “the Church no one is superfluous, no one is left behind” and asked them that “when there is no space, let us strive to have it, also for those who he is wrong, for the one who falls, for the one who has a hard time ». «The Lord does not point with the finger, but he opens his arms; Jesus shows it to us on the cross. He does not close the door, but invites to enter; he does not drive away, but welcomes ».
The Pope, who spoke in Spanish to feel more comfortable and improvise, encouraged the young people “to have courage and move forward” and urged the boys and girls to repeat “God loves us” several times before saying goodbye. In another act on Thursday morning, Francis reminded the young people, whom he had asked to visit their grandparents before World Youth Day, “the dramatic urgency” of global warming and advocated for an “integral ecology” during a meeting with students at the Catholic University of Lisbon.
????VIDEO | Pope Francis in his first words to the youth of the world in the #WYD #Lisboa2023: They are not here by chance. God calls you by name and for Jesus each one is important. pic.twitter.com/RRrjuwU0ys— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVaticano) August 3, 2023
According to international media, the Pope, after having traveled to Lisbon for the event, arrived at the Eduardo VII Park in a popemobile and for more than 30 minutes toured the premises to greet the hundreds of thousands of young people who had come from all over the world and who showed their enthusiasm to Francisco with shouts and songs.
As is traditional in this ceremony, the flags of the 151 countries present paraded, the icon of the Virgin that John Paul II gave to WYD and the pilgrim cross, which has traveled through several countries until it reached Lisbon and which will be delivered to the representatives of the next country where these conferences will be held, which are organized without fixed periodicity.
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