2023-05-02 14:08:00
May 2, 2023 / 7:08 a.m.
He Pope Francisco was willing to travel to the World Youth Day in Lisbon (Portugal) of 2023 despite its latest problems of health and recalled that it is an “unforgettable experience”, which marked the beginning of his pontificate, as well as that of Benedict XVI and under “the wake of what Saint John Paul II had inaugurated.”
Rádio Renascença published, this Tuesday, May 2, the preface of Pope Francis al book by the Portuguese journalist Aura Miguel “A long road to Lisbon” (Um Longo Caminho até Lisboa – Bertrand Editora), which narrates from the beginning the journey of the World Youth Days with a view to the next WYD in the Portuguese capital in August.
“I still have in my eyes and in my heart the immense crowd of young people who welcomed me in Rio de Janeiro, in July ten years ago,” the Holy Father wrote in the text that will be available from May 4, in Portuguese. .
St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis
In addition, -he maintained- that he has engraved in his memory: “the overflowing enthusiasm of young people”.
“An unforgettable experience”. “For me,” she continued, “as for Benedict XVIit was the same: the first international trip of our pontificate took place on the occasion of the World Youth Day: in Rio de Janeiro in my case, in 2005 in Colonia, that is, in his homeland, in the case of the Papa Ratzinger, who had also been on the throne of Peter for a few months.”
The Pontiff recalled that Benedict XVI and he were “as it were, ‘placed’ in the wake of what Saint John Paul II he had inaugurated, following an intuition suggested to him by the Holy Spirit”.
WYD and the changes of the world
He also wrote that ‘the so-called’digital natives‘, the kids of our time, run the daily risk of self-isolation.
For this reason, he has invited young people “not to go to the balcony, that is, not to remain on the balcony watching life go by as observers”.
Especially now, before the “race to rearmament” and that “it runs the risk of leading us to self-destruction”, at the same time that he asked to awaken the consequences of the “guerra that has been waged against the tormented Ukraine” and “in the heart of the Christian Europe”.
They are called to say ‘We care‘, we care, we are interested in what happens in the world”. This is the Pope’s invitation to young people in the face of the suffering of their peers: refugees, young soldiers, the unemployed.
“We care, we care about destiny of millions of peoples, of so many children, who have no water, food, or medical attention, while the rulers seem to compete to see who spends the most on sophisticated weapons,” he said.
The trip to WYD in Lisbon is not canceled
The Pontiff was willing to travel to the WYD Lisbon 2023 despite the fact that a month ago he was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome due to “acute pneumonia”, he confirmed during the press conference on April 30, on the return from his trip to Hungary.
“About Lisbon, I will go, I will go. I hope to do it, you see that it is not the same as two years ago, with the cane, now I am better, for the moment the trip is not cancelled”, he told the 70 journalists during the flight back to Rome from Budapest, which he has visited during three days.
In addition, he explained that “thank God” his body reacted well to the medical treatment and that he is already preparing two other trips to Marseille and Mongolia.
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