Alexandra Jaegy with AFP / Photo credit: THOMAS COEX / AFP
‘We are the pope’s youth’: Francis was welcomed as a rockstar on Thursday afternoon in Lisbon for his first major meeting with hundreds of thousands of young people from all continents gathered for World Youth Day (WYD) . In a charged atmosphere, amid songs and flags from many countries, Jorge Bergoglio blessed the crowd massed in a park in the center of the Portuguese capital during a long tour of “Papamobile”, framed by an impressive security device .
Nearly 400,000 faithful expected
“It’s very impressive. It’s intense! The atmosphere is great!” Geoffroy Garcia-Benito, a 17-year-old student from Angers, in western France, told AFP. “It’s a gathering of all Christians in the world, so we’re here to represent our country,” he added, clutching a French tricolor in his hands. “What strikes me the most is the warm atmosphere between people, all ready to exchange, to party even with strangers. The energy transmitted between different nationalities is incredible”, confided Paolo Lottini, 17 years old , a young Italian who is taking part in WYD for the first time.
From midday, tens of thousands of young pilgrims had gathered under the Lisbon sun to wait for the pope, singing and dancing to the rhythm of the sound system. The Portuguese authorities expected Thursday an influx of 300,000 to 400,000 faithful. The pope was to address them in Spanish during this welcoming ceremony, which precedes a series of other highlights including a vigil on Saturday evening and a final mass on Sunday which could bring together a million people, according to the organizers.
“Dramatic urgency” of global warming
Thursday morning, François recalled the “dramatic urgency” of global warming, pleading for an “integral ecology” during a meeting in front of students at the Catholic University of Lisbon. The spiritual leader of the 1.3 billion Catholics arrived in Lisbon on Wednesday for a five-day visit on the occasion of WYD, a world event created in 1986 by John Paul II and structured around festive, cultural and spiritual events ( concerts, spiritual times, conferences, debates…).
After Rio de Janeiro (2013), Krakow (2016) and Panama (2019), these are the fourth World Youth Days for François, whose health appears increasingly fragile. Hospitalized three times since 2021, he now moves in a wheelchair or leaning on a cane.