At the Opening Mass of WYD 2023, the Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal Manuel Clemente: “Each of our meetings must open with an authentic greeting, in which we exchange words of sincere welcome and full sharing”.
WYD is a unique experience of the universal Church. This year too,” the Organising Committee confirms, “the young people arriving from all corners of the world greet each other, embrace each other, as if they had known each other forever. And in their greeting there is the spark of a new world.
“Let us learn with Mary to greet each and every person,” the Patriarch continues, “and let us assiduously put this into practice during this World Youth Day. The new world begins with the newness of each encounter and the sincerity of the greeting we exchange. To be people among people, constantly visiting one another”.
In the historical era in which we are living, marked by wars, crises of anger, claims of domination, meeting and greeting each other among young people from all over the planet is a mutual promise that “it was worth the effort to undertake this journey that has brought you here to meet each other, in these days, in the diversity and personal qualities that each and every one of you brings, from every land, language and culture. There is nothing like this personal and group journey, at the meeting of everyone’s journey“.
The next appointment is on 3 August at 6pm, again at the Parque Eduardo VII for the meeting between young people and the Pope: an event with a festive and meeting character, in the dimension of prayer.
