That Jorge Mario Bergoglio was going to be a different pope from his predecessor, Benedict XVI, was clear from the moment he chose his official name in 2013. He chose Francis, one of Catholicism’s most humble and compassionate saints. All of his subsequent decisions delved into this path to the point that he has come to be branded as the anti-capitalist pope due to his criticism of the excesses of economic neoliberalism. She has also been active in defending the climate since even before Greta Thunberg appeared on the scene, but the most radical transformation is the one she is promoting within the Church itself, which is costing her open criticism from the most conservative sectors with her effort to change dogmas that seemed immovable such as the celibacy of priests, the marginalization of women or the condemnation of homosexuals. “Who am I to judge them?” he asked himself rhetorically after returning from a trip to Brazil for World Youth Day in 2013. Earlier this year he insisted during an interview: “Being homosexual is not a crime.” All of this will be present on his five-day trip to Portugal, which begins this Wednesday and includes a meeting with victims of sexual abuse from the Portuguese Church.
Return to outside work. The Pope’s prolonged stay in Portugal will allow us to verify his physical recovery after the operation for an abdominal hernia that forced him to be hospitalized for nine days in June. On his agenda is a trip to the sanctuary of Fátima by helicopter on Saturday and another trip to Cascais to see a school that develops an educational program that he started in Buenos Aires in 2001.
His age (86 years) and recent hospital admissions lead some to think that he is witnessing the final cycle of his papacy. Benedict XVI resigned when he was 85 years old, after having spent almost eight years at the head of the Holy See. This World Youth Day, which could receive more than a million pilgrims, is also the first to be celebrated after the coronavirus pandemic. The previous one, in Panama City, was attended by some 800,000 people.
More cardinal periphery. Three weeks before traveling to Lisbon, Francis surprisingly announced the appointment of 21 new cardinals who, he said, “express the universality of the planet.” Once again, he reinforced the presence of Latin cardinals (three of them Spanish) to flee from the Eurocentrism that has traditionally distinguished the Vatican. The new cardinals will be named in a ceremony on September 30. Among them is the Portuguese Américo Aguiar, who has been the visible head of the organization of the World Youth Day in Lisbon.
Two thirds of the college of cardinals, the body that elects the popes, has already been proposed by Francis, who has strengthened the power of those prelates considered more progressive and reformist, including the president of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference and bishop of Fatima-Leiria, Jose Ornelas.
victims of sexual abuse. The pontiff is expected to have a meeting with victims of sexual abuse by the Portuguese Church during his stay in Lisbon, although it has not been officially announced. In June, Bishop Américo Aguiar confirmed that the interview would take place, but declined to give details. “We respect people invited to participate who would not be comfortable with the media presence. It is not a taboo or to hide information. It is a gentlemen’s agreement,” said Aguiar.
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In February, the report of the independent commission created by the Portuguese Episcopal Conference to investigate pedophilia in institutions or during activities linked to the Catholic Church between 1950 and 2022 was presented. The commission estimated that at least 4,815 minors suffered sexual abuse. The places where the attacks occurred the most were the seminary, the church, the confessional and the rectory. The average age of the onset of abuse was 11.2 years.
The Portuguese Church apologized to the victims and has created a permanent structure to channel all new complaints that may arise and facilitate their psychological treatment if required. Although they refuse to establish general compensation, the president of the Episcopal Conference, José Ornelas, has expressed his willingness to help the victims with financial support if they need it.
Social schedule. In addition to young people, to whom he will dedicate a good part of his public agenda, Francisco plans to hold meetings with inmates and the sick in Fatima and visit a parish center in the Libertad neighborhood, which some call the “favela” of Lisbon. The agenda of the World Youth Day in Lisbon reveals the attention of the pontiff towards the most disadvantaged.
Although the event has not lost its religious identity, in recent editions it has also cultivated a macro-festival spirit where multiculturalism is exalted. Pilgrims from all over the world have attended the Portuguese event, with the exception of the Maldives. Until this Tuesday, 354,000 young people had officially registered. The Spanish are almost 22%.
A less Catholic country. Traditionally, Portugal has been one of the European countries where Catholicism has had the most weight, in addition to Italy, Ireland and Spain. Some seven million Portuguese declare themselves Catholic (around 70% of the population), according to the latest census data from the National Institute of Statistics. It is among the ten most Catholic countries in Europe, although there are also other contradictory signs that show the progress of the secularization of society, such as people living in common-law unions (they have gone from 380,000 to more than one million between 2001 and 2021 ) or registered non-Catholic marriages, which were 73% in 2022.
The public spending devoted to the Day (some 80 million euros) has been one of the aspects most criticized by left-wing formations. Neither the Bloco de Esquerda nor the Llivre deputy, Rui Tavares, will participate in the institutional acts of welcoming the Pope, which will take place this Wednesday. Francisco will land at the Figo Maduro air base around 10:00.
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