(SE/Media): “Don’t be afraid. Be of good cheer,” Pope Francis told the some 1.5 million pilgrims during the concluding Mass of the 37th World Youth Day at the Campo de Graça [field of grace], in Parque Tejo, in Lisbon, Portugal, on August 6. Echoing the words of St. Peter in the gospel of the Sunday, the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the pope said, “It is good for us to be here!”
Drawing parallels between World Youth Day and the encounter with the transfigured Jesus, the pope challenged the young people asking, “What will we take back with us to the valley of our daily lives?” He went on the exhort them: “I have three words to share with you: To Shine, To Listen, To be unafraid … Jesus knows the hearts of each one of you, the successes and the failures, he knows your hearts. And today he tells you, here in Lisbon for this World Youth Day: ‘Don’t be afraid.’”
The pope also announced that Seoul, South Korea, would be the venue for WYD 2027… “moving from the western edge of Europe to the Far East,” he said.
“Never forget who you really are,” Pope Francis reminded the pilgrims, urging them to “relive the experiences and the graces of these days” in the “inevitable times of fatigue and discouragement,” when “the temptation to give up or close in on yourselves” will be stronger.
“What is more, you are a sign of peace for the world, showing how different nationalities, languages and histories can unite instead of divide. You are the hope of a different world. Thank you for this. Onwards!” the pope said.
There is room for everyone in the Church … the young and old, the healthy and the sick, the righteous and sinners: everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone! [Todos! Todos! Todos!] Pope Francis
Pope Francis, on his 42nd apostolic journey, arrived in Lisbon from Rome for World Youth Day—delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic—on August 2. Following a welcoming ceremony at the airport, he was greeted at the National Palace in Belèm by the Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and later met with the prime minister, Antonio Costa.
Afterwards, in his remarks to civil authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps at the Centro Cultural de Belém, the pope called for “a diplomacy of peace aimed at settling conflicts and lessening tensions, attentive to the slightest signals of distension and reading between the most crooked lines.” He lamented the developed world’s “creeping utilitarianism that uses life and discards it”: that of unborn children, older persons, migrants, and that so many families “find it hard to bring children into the world and raise them.”
However, he pointed out that the thousands who came for World Youth Day are a sign of hope. “Young people from around the world, who long for unity, peace and fraternity, urge us to make their good dreams come true. They are taking to the streets, not to cry out in anger but to share the hope of the gospel,” he said.
He challenged the dignitaries to protect the earth and build a future saying, “Political life is challenged to see itself as a generator of life and concern for others. It is called to show foresight by investing in the future, in families and in children, and by promoting intergenerational covenants that do not cancel the past but forge bonds between young and old.”
Jesus knows the hearts of each one of you, the successes and the failures, he knows your hearts. And today he tells you, here in Lisbon for this World Youth Day: ‘Don’t be afraid’
Pope Francis also met privately with 13 victims of clerical sex abuse. Portugal has been rocked by reports of over 4,800 incidences of abuse since 1950. Earlier, during Vespers at the Jeronimos Monastery with Portuguese bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, seminarians and pastoral workers, saying “disappointment and anger with which some people view the Church” is often because of “our poor witness and the scandals that have marred her face.”
The pope urged “humble and ongoing purification, starting with the anguished cry of the victims, who must always be accepted and listened to.”
On August 3, the pope met with 15 young pilgrims from Ukraine and spent time listening to their stories, and expressed to them his ‘sorrowful and prayerful’ closeness, the Holy See Press Office reported. He then met with students gathered at the Universidade Catòlica Portuguesa, encouraging them to embrace their faith saying, “There is no future in a world without God.” He urged them to make their faith credible through the choices they make, giving rise to convincing lifestyles.
The pope also encouraged them to protect the environment saying, “We must recognise the dramatic urgency of caring for the common home.”
He admonished, “It is a matter of taking on what unfortunately continues to be postponed: the need to redefine what we call progress and evolution.”
Young people from around the world, who long for unity, peace and fraternity, urge us to make their good dreams come true. They are taking to the streets, not to cry out in anger but to share the hope of the gospel,
The welcoming ceremony on August 3 at Eduardo VII Park, featured performances by 50 young people from 21 countries, in a spectacle of colour and sound; a celebration demonstrating the unity and diversity of the Church.
Pope Francis reminded the half a million pilgrims present that God has called them by name. The Church, he said, is “the community of the called,” not a community of the best people.
“There is room for everyone in the Church,” he said, adding that Jesus expressed this clearly in the gospels calling “the young and old, the healthy and the sick, the righteous and sinners: everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone! [Todos! Todos! Todos!]” The pope invited the crowd to repeat after him, “Everyone, everyone, everyone!”
During the closing Mass on August 6, Pope Francis thanked the organisers and volunteers, using the Portuguese word “obrigado”, meaning “thank you.” Then before praying the Angelus he told the World Youth Day pilgrims: “And ‘obrigado’ to all of you, dear young people. God sees all the good you are, and only he knows what he has planted in your heart. Go from here with what God put in your heart.”
Father Paul Kam Po-wai, vicar general of the Diocese of Hong Kong, who together with Father Tito Lopez Martin, the chairperson of the Diocesan Youth Commission, led the 300-strong delegation from Hong Kong, said, “We hope that the 300 young people will be like Mary and become a living monstrance of the Eucharist who bring the peace, joy and love of Jesus to others through their sharings [of their World Youth Day experience].”
Delegates from Hong Kong said that the event encouraged them to step out of their comfort zones and rekindled their faith.
Cardinal-elect Stephen Chow Sau Yan, SJ, was also in Lisbon and concelebrated the opening Mass on August 1, gave catechisis talks during the week, and concelebrated the concluding, commissioning Mass with Pope Francis on August 6.
