Pope Francis Arrives in Lisbon for World Youth Day

Verghese V Joseph –

Pope Francis arrived in Lisbon, Portugal kicking off his 42nd Apostolic Journey abroad to the European nation of Portugal for the 37th World Youth Day.

On arrival, he was received by a welcoming ceremony. Immediately afterwards, he was greeted at the National Palace in Belèm by the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

For a week, Lisbon will welcome thousands and thousands of young people from all over the world, in an encounter that is, at the same time, a pilgrimage, a party, an expression of the universal church and a strong moment of evangelisation.

Since the first encounter, held in 1986 in Rome, the World Youth Day (WYD) has stood out as a laboratory of faith and Church’s transformation.

At this moment, in Lisbon, young people from all over the world are preparing to rise up and respond to Pope Francis’ challenge, to think and build a more just and supportive world.

WYD, a meeting of young people from all over the world with Pope, was instituted by St John Paul II in 1985 and since then has passed through the following citues: Buenos Aires (1987), Santiago de Compostela (1989), Czestochowa (1991), Denver (1993), Manil (1995), Paris (1997), Rome (2000), Tot=ronto (2002), Cologne (2005), Sydney (2008), Madrid (2011), Rio de Janeiro (2013), Krakow (2016) and Panama (2019).

Today several data were disclosed in a Press Conference, showing that Portugal is, this week, a meeting point between cultures and initiatives that invite the youth to live with Christ.

According to this data, the World Youth Day (WYD) Lisbon 2023 counts with 354 thousand registered pilgrims and over 25 thousand volunteers. The countries with the most representation are Spain with 77.224 pilgrims, Italy with 59.469, Portugal with 43.742 and France with 42.482.

Also, 688 Bishops from all over the world, including 30 are Cardinals, wanted to be present. From Italy came 109, 70 from Spain, 65 from France, 61 from the United States of America and 36 from Portugal.

The WYD Lisbon 2023 counts with 1.626 public accommodation spaces, with capacity for 294.151 pilgrims, and 8.831 host families ready to receive 28.618 pilgrims. Regarding the meals, 1.800 is the number of restaurants adherent with about 2.7 million contracted meals.

Regarding the Youth Festival, we’ll have over 600 events starred by over 2.500 participants in 90 locations. About sustainability, we have with 17.980 trees planted and dedicated to the WYD Lisbon 2023.