World Youth Day | Lisbon, Portugal | August 1-6, 2023
Pope Francis flew from Rome to Lisbon, Portugal, to participate in the mega gathering of Catholic youth taking place these days in Lisbon. While the official theme of the gathering of hundreds of thousands of Catholic youth from around the world is Mary Went With Haste, a second but often repeated theme are the pope's words “Everyone is welcome in the Church.”
At his opening address to an estimated 500,000 young people on August 3 during the official welcoming ceremony, the pope said, "There is room for everyone in the Church and, whenever there is not, then, please, we must make room, including for those who make mistakes, who fall or struggle.
"The Lord does not point a finger, but opens wide his arms: Jesus showed us this on the cross," Francis continued. "He does not close the door, but invites us to enter; he does not keep us at a distance, but welcomes us."
"Let these be days when we fully realize in our hearts that we are loved just as we are," the pope told a sea of young people, many draped in their country's flags. Many waited several hours to greet the pontiff.
This theme of the Church being a wide tent, allowing everyone to have a place, came up during the pontiff’s talk to some 7,000 students at the Catholic University of Portugal as well. "Christianity cannot be lived as a fortress surrounded by high walls, one that raises the ramparts against the world," Pope Francis said.
When the pope was speaking with the Portuguese clergy and religious, he again pointed out that it is everyone’s responsibility to welcome everyone into the Church.
Although the pope recently spent time at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, students affiliated with Carmelite schools and parishes who are attending the weeklong event have described Pope Francis as energetic and enthused. It has often been noted that the pope appears most relaxed and smiling when he is meeting with the everyday people of the Church.
It has been reported that the pope took the opportunity during his time in Portugal to meet with some victims of the earthquake in Turkey, youth from war torn Ukraine, and victims of the sex scandals that have rocked the Portuguese Church.
