Pope Francis welcomed the president of the WYD Lisbon 2023

Pope Francis received in hearing last week the president of the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation, the Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon, D. Américo Aguiar.

The hearing took place March 3^rd in the Vatican. It’s aim to deliberate the preparation of the meeting in Lisbon in August 2023, which takes place at a very particular time in the history of young people, now also marked by armed conflict in Europe, disclosed the World Youth Day organization.

D. Américo Aguiar says that “the Holy Father puts a lot of expectation in the meeting with young people from all over the world and always asks us to pray for everyone, especially for the victims of war and those who suffered the consequences of the pandemic.

Days later, Pope Francis sent a message of motivation the youth involved in the preparation of the Lisbon meeting, encouraging them to continue preparing for World Youth Day 2023 with “creativity” and “poetry.”

On February 15th, the organization of WYD Lisbon 2023 announced the beginning of a new stage in the preparation of this event of the Catholic Church, speaking of the coming months as “the year of implementation.”