A Church-Community: on the way to the WYD of Lisbon

The 37th World Youth Day (WYD), which will be held from 31^st July to 6^th August 2023 in Lisbon (Portugal), is upon us and many young people are preparing to experience this global event with the Pope. Various initiatives have been organized and for months now, many people have been working with dedication on this moment of true family for the Church.

Everything is ready. The sun is high on the seven hills of Lisbon (Portugal) and the ocean breeze brings with it an air of novelty and anticipation: the WYD is upon us and young people from all over the world are arriving. After months of preparation and having visited various stops throughout the country, last weekend the symbols of the Day, the Pilgrim’s Cross and the Icon of Our Lady “Salus Popoli Romani”, finally reached Lisbon and we are now ready to welcome the first young people arriving for the “Days in the Dioceses” which will take place from 26^th-31^st July 2023 in the 17 dioceses of mainland Portugal and the islands. A way to prepare pilgrims and host communities to get into the event and live it to the full.

Father José Cardoso de Almeida, parish priest of Sátão, in the diocese of Viseu, a priest volunteer of the Focolare Movement told us, “When we were told that WYD would be held in Lisbon, we welcomed the news with immense joy. I am sure that it will be an occasion of grace for each of the participants, as well as for our country. In my case, I feel I have to be open to the surprises that the Spirit wants to communicate”.

Fr. José has experienced the anticipation and enthusiasm of several WYDs first-hand. Like many other people, he immediately felt the call to get involved in organizing this Event which was taking place in his own “backyard”, by motivating young people and welcoming those who would come from various parts of the world: “This last year has been full of meetings. A lot of activities were organized to help cover the expenses of those who had greater economic challenges to get here. As a ‘little builder’ of this WYD, together with many others, I encouraged some families to open their doors to young people from other countries for the ‘Days in the Dioceses’. In our area, we will welcome about 3,000 young people, mostly French. Then we will leave for Lisbon and I will lend a hand for the sacrament of Reconciliation, during the event.”

It has been a concrete experience that shows how serving others generated countless fruits in the various communities. As Fr. José said, “For example, the discovery of the beauty of working together. I think that today’s young people need to discover that the secret of happiness lies in true love, and as Pope Francis says, in the experience of “going out of oneself” and “being with and for others.” This is true unity. ”

And it is in this “going out” that we find the image of the Virgin Mary, ready to “get up and go with haste”, as the motto of this WYD announces, on the way to visit Elizabeth. Ana and José Maria Raposo told us that this is an “invitation to encounter the living Jesus in the family, at work, in social and political life”. They are from the parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceição dos Olivais Sul in Lisbon and are members of the Volunteers of God of the Focolare Movement. Ana and José have been married for 45 years, have five children and four grandchildren and are one of the many Portuguese families who will host the young people who will take part in the WYD in their own homes.

They told us, “For young people, like Mary, to live their vocation, it is necessary to believe in them and let them lead, without forgetting the importance of inter-generationality. It is necessary to believe that the world today is already changed if hearts are changed, if the mind is free, if one leaves one’s comfort zone, if one looks around and sees Jesus in everyone; we have to believe that a united world is possible”. QQ

An experience that looks at this fragile time, looks at the other and is strengthened thanks also to the concrete witness of those who, believing in love, want to put it at the service in the “welcome” that, as Ana and José say, “means to be a family for those who arrive. It was spontaneous for us to immediately join in welcoming the young pilgrims who will participate in the WYD. We have always welcomed people who needed help because they were passing through or traveling. The last few months gave us an opportunity to review things and reorganize the spaces so that the young people who arrive really feel at home.”

World Youth Day continues to prove to be, even today, a great event of the Church that, around the Pope and young people from all over the world, becomes “Community”. And to be, as Father José Cardoso de Almeida stated, “a workshop of the Kingdom of God and the image of that universal fraternity that derives from the Gospel”.

Maria Grazia Berretta