This Friday, Pope Francis urged the young people participating in World Youth Day in Lisbon to “open their hearts to other cultures” and “learn to look to the horizon, to look beyond.”
In a video message released by the organization of the World Youth Day Lisbon 2023 (WYDLisboa2023), the pontiff stressed that there are already 400,000 young people registered for the meeting to be held in Lisbon, stating that he is happy “that so many young people People come because they need to participate.
“Some will say ‘I’m going on a tourist trip’… But the young man who comes is because deep down he is thirsty to participate, to share, to tell his experience and receive the experience of the other. thirsty for horizons”, said Pope Francis, appealing to young people “not to build a wall” in front of their lives, because only the horizon makes them grow.
In the message, Francis asks young people to “always look at the horizon with their eyes, but above all look with their hearts.”
“Open your hearts to other cultures, to other boys, to other girls, who also come to this Day. Prepare for this: to open horizons, to open hearts”, added the Pope, thanking the 400,000 young people who have already signed up and expressing the hope that “others will follow the (…) example”.
“Pray for me, as I pray for you. And do not forget: not walls, but horizons”, concludes the Pope in his two-minute message.
Lisbon was the city chosen by Pope Francis for the next edition of World Youth Day, which will take place between August 1 and 6 of this year, with the main ceremonies in Parque Tejo, north of Parque das Nações, on the banks of the Tagus River, on land belonging to the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures.
WYD was born at the initiative of Pope John Paul II, after the success of the meeting promoted in 1985 in Rome, in the International Year of Youth.
The first edition took place in 1986, in Rome, having already passed through Buenos Aires (1987), Santiago de Compostela (1989), Czestochowa (1991), Denver (1993), Manila (1995), Paris (1997), Rome ( 2000), Toronto (2002), Cologne (2005), Sydney (2008), Madrid (2011), Rio de Janeiro (2013), Krakow (2016) and Panama (2019).
This year’s edition, which will be closed by the Pope, was originally scheduled for 2022, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pope Francis was the first person to register for WYDLisboa2023, on October 23, 2022, in the Vatican, after the Angelus celebration. This gesture marked the worldwide opening of registrations for the world meeting of young people with the Pope.
Source: TSF
