More than a million young people from all over the world were expected to attend the event in Lisbon, with several days of events. Pilgrim buses began arriving before Tuesday despite forecasts of 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) for the pope’s mass that capped off the weekend.
A poster from the Portuguese health authorities reminded attendees to stay hydrated. The Prime Minister, António Costa, recommended on Monday that the volunteers of the conferences bring plenty of water and a hat to protect themselves from the heat.
Cardinal-elect Américo Aguiar, the Bishop of Lisbon who organizes the festival, said the two years of lockdowns due to the pandemic made this year’s edition of World Youth Day unique, describing it as an important gathering for young Catholics. , especially given Russia’s war in the Ukraine and economic uncertainty around the world.
“The pope always says that this event is joy and the possibility of coming together, the culture of coming together,” Aguiar said in an interview. “After these limitations and difficulties, young people from all over the world will be able to meet again, with some freedom.”
Francis arrived on Wednesday and was scheduled to meet with Portuguese authorities in the morning at the National Palace of Bethlehem, the president’s official residence west of Lisbon, and from which Portuguese maritime explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries set sail.
In the afternoon, Francisco would travel to the Jerónimos Church and Monastery, built in the 16th century, perhaps the most outstanding monument in Portugal. There he will meet with Portuguese Church leaders, who have recently begun the process of confronting their history of clerical sexual abuse.
Francis was expected to meet privately this week with abuse survivors and may mention the issue in his public statements, as he has done on other trips abroad. The Portuguese bishops were widely criticized for their initial response to the findings of the independent commission, which reported in February that at least 4,815 boys and girls had been abused in the country since 1950, the majority between the ages of 10 and 14.
The bishops long insisted there were only a handful of cases, and were initially hesitant to suspend clergy identified in the commission’s report. They also gradually changed their minds about paying compensation to victims, insisting at first that they would only pay if there were court orders.
The Portuguese Catholic Church also promised in March to build a monument to the victims that would be displayed during WYD, but organizers abandoned the plan a few weeks ago.
Instead, victims’ advocates have launched a campaign called “This is our monument”, and were planning to put up billboards in Lisbon this week with the message “+ than 4,800 children assaulted”.
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FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
