2023-08-01 20:09:59
Lisboa hosts from today World Youth Day, the largest Catholic event in the world, which brings together a million faithful attracted by the presence of the Pope in an unprecedented event for a country shaken by the scandal of child abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church.
Hundreds of thousands of volunteers and pilgrims who have arrived in different parts of Portugal in recent days will gather in Lisbon this Tuesday to join the first post-pandemic WYD, which will receive the visit of Pope Francis tomorrow, Wednesday.
A massive mass in the emblematic park of Eduardo VII, where a monumental altar has been installed, will open the event that will conclude on the 6th with unprecedented figures in Portugal: tens of millions of investment -public and private-, more than a million visitors, between 16,000 and 20,000 security agents and some 5,000 accredited journalists and technicians.
The great celebration of the Catholic community has meant an extraordinary logistical and economic effort for a country where the minimum wage -760 euros- is similar to that of Lithuania or Malta and where housing problems are worsening, especially for young people who , according to a recent report, are unable to leave the parental home, on average, before the age of 30 due to lack of means.
The celebration has also altered life in Lisbon. An impressive security device has taken over the center of the city, that today dawned with closed metro stations, closed roads, thousands of young people in the streets and teleworking in a large part of the companies.
For five days, masses and meetings with the Pope will take place, as well as concerts and vigils, according to the official program, which makes no mention of the great scandal that has shaken the Portuguese Church for months: child abuse.
Abuses: the pending subject
WYD celebrates this edition in a country that six months ago discovered that it is not an exception in the abuse drama, After an investigation revealed that at least 4,800 minors were abused in the Catholic Church Portuguese, whose lukewarm reaction provoked the indignation of broad sectors of society. The victims lament the silence of the official program on the subject and demand a public condemnation from the pope.
Victims like Antonio Grosso, whose testimony is part of the investigation into sexual violence in the Portuguese Church and who is now a member of the “Silenced Heart” association. Grosso is hopeful of a possible private meeting of a handful of victims with the Pope during WYD and trusts that Francis will launch a “public demonstration of support” and contribute to “raising awareness” among the youth. “It is necessary to make a warning so that this never happens again,” he insisted in an interview with Efe on the eve of the Conference.
Victims demand legislation against the prescription of crimes that has benefited many of the abusers because “it never prescribes the drama of a raped girl, nor an abused boy,” laments Grosso. The association also wants to denounce the reaction of the Catholic hierarchy which, Grosso continues, “covered up abuses” and launched “undignified” comments.
The CEP left the decision on the suspects in the hands of the bishops. As a result, about fifteen priests were removed but some have resumed their activity.
Criticism even came from the highest instance of the State, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a conservative and practicing Catholic, who did not hide his “disappointment” with the response of the Portuguese Church.
posters of outrage
In contrast to the official silence, the complaint has reached the streets of Lisbon. With the colors typical of this WYD, yellow, red and green -a mixture of the flags of the Vatican and Portugal-, posters dotted around the city remember the 4,800 abused minors.
The campaign arises from anonymous citizens who, according to the TSF radio station, obtained funding from hundreds of people to show their “outrage” and recognize the victims. The Church avoids controversy. “Do what you understand you have to do, with respect for the law,” said Manuel Clemente, the cardinal patriarch of Lisbon, on Monday.
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