2023-08-09 10:08:00
August 9, 2023 / 3:08 am
This Wednesday, August 9, during the first General Audience held after a break during the month of July, Pope Francis reflected on his trip to Lisbon within the framework of WYD, which he has defined as “an encounter with the living Christ through of the church”.
In this General Audience, held inside the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican due to the high temperatures in Rome, the Holy Father stated that “theWYD has shown everyone that another world is possible”.
The Pontiff visited Lisbon from August 2 to 6 to participate in the 37th World Youth Day, the first held after the pandemic, where he was received by one and a half million young people.
For the Holy Father, this WYD has been “felt by all as a gift from God, who always opens new horizons”.
He remarked that this meeting “has once again set in motion the hearts and steps of the young people of the world”, who have come to find themselves and Christ.
In addition, he affirmed that with this WYD “he has marked a new beginning of the great pilgrimage of young people across the continents, in the name of Jesus Christ. And it is no coincidence that it was in Lisbon, a city that overlooks the ocean, a city that is a symbol of the great explorations by sea”.
He then recalled that “At WYD the Gospel proposed to young people the model of the Virgin Mary” with the motto “he got up and left without delay”.
“Mary still today, in the third millennium, guides the pilgrimage of young people in the footsteps of Jesus. Just like she did a century ago in Portugal, in Fatima, when she addressed three children, entrusting them with a message of faith and hope for the Church and for the world”.
The Holy Father explained that for this reason during WYD he returned to Fatima, “the place of the apparitions, and together with some sick young people I prayed that God heal the world of soul diseases: pride, lies, enmity, violence ”.
He also stressed that “we have renewed our consecration, of Europe and the world, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary”.
He pointed out that “the young people of the world came to Lisbon in large numbers and with great enthusiasm.” In this sense, he clarified that “it was not a vacation, a tourist trip, and neither was it an end-in-itself spiritual event; WYD is an encounter with Christ through the Church”.
He also recalled that he has found “small groups, and some with many problems”, such as young Ukrainians, “who had stories that were painful.”
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Pope Francis assured that “young people in Portugal are already a vital presence today, and now, after this ‘transfusion’ received by the Churches around the world, they will be even more so.”
He stressed that “Portugal, like all of Europe and the entire world, needs hope, a solid, reliable hope; And this does not come from just any youth, but from youth animated by the Gospel, by young people who have encountered Christ and follow him. Because it is Jesus Christ, He alone, who renews the world by renewing the heart of man.”
Next, focused his gaze on Ukraine “and in other parts of the world where there is fighting, and while war is being planned in certain hidden rooms, WYD has shown everyone that another world is possible: a world of brothers and sisters, where the flags of all peoples wave together. one next to the other.”
“The message of the young people has been clear: will the ‘big ones’ of the earth listen to it? This youthful enthusiasm that wants peace is a parable for our time, and still today Jesus says: ‘He who has ears, let him hear! He who has eyes, let him see!’ Let’s hope that the whole world listens to this WYD and sees this beauty of young people going forward”, he concluded.
At the end of the General Audience, Pope Francis invoked the intercession of Saint Edith Stein, co-patron of Europe, for peace in Ukraine: “May her testimony stimulate commitment against all forms of violence and discrimination.”
“Ask Our Lady for the priceless gift of peace, especially for dear Ukraine,” the Holy Father prayed.
Almudena Martínez-Bordiú is a Spanish journalist, correspondent for ACI Prensa in Rome and the Vatican, with four years of experience in religious information.
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