The Prime Minister, António Costa, and the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, visited this Saturday at the headquarters of the Local Organizing Committee of the World Youth Day Lisbon 2023 and highlighted the event’s message of peace and dialogue.
The Prime Minister, António Costa, and the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, visited on May 13 the headquarters of WYD Lisbon 2023, where they were received by the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, Archbishop Manuel Clemente, the President of the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation, Bishop Américo Aguiar, and the Apostolic Nuncio in Portugal, Bishop Ivo Scapolo.
António Costa assured the support of the Portuguese State to the organization of the meeting and stated that WYD “is a message that Pope Francis wants to address to the whole of humanity, starting with young people, believers and non-believers, and placing young people at the heart of our collective development and the many issues were facing at this time in the world”. “In a world where we are burdened by war, conflicts, divisions and separations, the best way to respond is to do the opposite: to bring together, when one wants to separate; to speak of peace, when there is a war; and, above all, to learn that sharing this world means to know each other better, the difference of each one,” he said, wishing that WYD Lisbon 2023 will be a great success.
The Vatican Secretary of State, who presided over the celebrations of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, also underlined the importance of this world meeting of youth in promoting peace.
The Prime Minister took the opportunity to register for WYD Lisbon 2023 and invited all young people to do so as well.
Bishop Américo Aguiar revealed that the number of registered pilgrims already exceeds 600 thousand, from almost every country in the world.
The visit was also attended by the Ministers of Health, Manuel Pizarro, of Internal Administration, José Luís Carneiro, and the Minister of State and Parliamentary Affairs, Ana Catarina Mendes, responsible for the organization of the meeting, and the WYD coordinator appointed by the Government, José Sá Fernandes. The meeting served as an opportunity for the various officials to take stock of the preparations for the security, health and mobility plans for WYD.
