The Pope will travel from August 2 to 6 to Lisbon to meet with a million young people at WYD

Pope Francis will travel to Lisbon from August 2 to 6 to participate in World Youth Day (WYD) and will include a visit to the Marian Shrine of Fatimawhere it was already in May 2017.

WYD, one of the largest Catholic events that brings together millions of young people, will be held between August 1 and 6 in the Portuguese capitalafter it had to be postponed one year due to the pandemic.

In addition to the Pope’s presence at the various WYD events, Francis is also expected to visit the Sanctuary of Fatima, where, according to Catholic tradition, the Virgin appeared to children for the first time on May 13, 1917, and that the Pope already visited two days in May 2017.

[Vaticangate, la conjura ultra para colocar al próximo Papa: las ‘cenas de cuervos’ para destruir al ‘comunista’ Francisco]

“The WYDs have been and continue to be strong moments for the experience of many children, of many young people, and the initial inspiration that moved our beloved Pope Wojtyla has not failed”, the Pontiff expressed in the prologue of a book about this event recently. published by the Portuguese journalist Aura Miguel.

“On the contrary, the change of times that we are experiencing more or less consciously represents a challenge also and above all for the younger generations,” he adds.

This is the Pope’s first visit to Lisbon, but his second visit to Portugal. At the moment, no further details of this trip have been given, which will be the third this year confirmed by the Vatican after that of Hungary and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, although the pope also stated that he plans a trip to Mongolia and Marseille (France).

The one in Lisbon will be the fourth WYD chaired by Jorge Mario Bergoglio after the one in Brazil (2013), Krakow (2016) and Panama (2019). Initially it was scheduled for 2022, as Francis announced on January 27, 2019 in Panama, but it was later moved to the following year due to the coronavirus emergency.

Controversial commemorative stamp

The Vatican announced last week that it will withdraw the commemorative stamp of the World Youth Days, whose design generated controversy in Portugal for resemble the images used by the Salaza dictatorshipr to promote Portuguese colonialism.

The Holy See has justified that the design, prepared by the Vatican Philatelic Service, had the sole objective of promoting the Pope’s meeting with young people without any reference to the past, but accepted the criticism and promised to present a new image.

The stamp, designed by artist Stefano Morri and issued by the Vatican, shows Pope Francis followed by youths carrying a Portuguese flag as they stand on a platform emulating the sculpture. “Monument to the Discoveries”installed in the Portuguese capital during the dictatorship imposed by António de Oliveira Salazar.

Messages immediately appeared on social networks comparing the drawing with those published by the “Estado Novo” National Propaganda Secretariat.