Pope Francis wrapped up his World Youth Day visit with one word, rendered in Portuguese as “obrigado,” thank you — literally, “I am obliged.”
The Holy Father closed the international celebration, attended by more than 5,000 Canadian pilgrims, at a Mass celebrated with an estimated 1.5 million pilgrims earlier this morning, but before leaving Portugal, his last public address was for the some 25,000 volunteers from 130 countries who kept the massive event running.
At the Passeio Marítimo outdoor festival centre in Algés, on the outskirts of Lisbon, the Pope arrived a little after 4 p.m. local time to temperatures of 99 degrees.
Despite the heat and the long hours of the last several months and days, the volunteers excitedly cheered the WYD shout used since the days of Pope John Paul II: “These are the young people of the Pope!” adding: “Long live Pope Francis!”
Using umbrellas, flags, and their bright green hats to shade themselves, the volunteers gave one last “welcome!” — this time for the Pope.
Three of the young people gave their testimonies to start the meeting: from Portugal, Francisco, 24; Filipe, 33; and from Germany, Chiara, 18. The three of them spoke of how fulfilling these days of service have been and the enriching experience of serving with people from around the world, as well as the chance to grow in their faith and love for Christ.
“I have realized that life with God is not boring; it is pure adventure,” Chiara said, bringing cheers from her fellow volunteers. “I want to be a saint,” Francisco assured the Pope and the crowd. Filipe said there are many young people who know that in Christ we find peace.
Cardinal Manuel Clemente, patriarch of Lisbon, gave words of thanks to the Pope and his collabourators before the Holy Father took the microphone.
Speaking in Spanish, and often adding off-the-cuff comments and emphases during many of his addresses during the five-day trip, Pope Francis referred to the theme of this World Youth Day — “Mary arose, and went with haste.”
She went to share joy and service, “service in joy,” he said. Francis told the sea of yellow-T-shirted young people that he had seen them also “running about” during these days, moving in haste to help others. “You ran a lot,” he said, as the crowd acknowledged him with cheers.
“But I always noted one thing,” the Pope praised them, “that your eyes shone brightly, shining with the joy of service. Thank you.”
“You made this World Youth Day possible. You did great things with the smallest of gestures,” he added. “You have done much running about, yet never in a frenetic or aimless way that sometimes our world asks. You ran a race that brings about an encounter with others. To serve others in the name of Jesus. You came to Lisbon to serve, not to be served. Thank you. Many thanks.”
Pope Francis noted how love always makes us move quickly, saying: “We think of Zacchaeus, who went up a tree and hurried down from the tree to meet Jesus and welcome him into his home; of the women and disciples, who on Easter morning ran to the tomb and back to the upper room to announce that Christ is risen. Those who love do not stand idly by, one who loves, serves, and hurries to love.”
The bishop of Rome left the volunteers with an image taken from his host country, pointing out that north of Lisbon, at a place called Nazaré, waves as high as 30 meters (nearly 100 feet) attract surfers from all over the world.
“In these days, you also have faced a real wave,” he told the volunteers, “not of water, but of young people, young people like you, who have poured into this city.”
Indeed, the estimated attendance at World Youth Day in Lisbon was as much as 50 per cent higher than expected. While only about 350,000 pilgrims had registered, organizers expected a million for the vigil and the final Mass. Estimates suggest, though, that as many as 1.5 million youth were actually in attendance.
“With God’s help, with a lot of generosity and helping each other, you have ridden this great wave,” he told the volunteers as they cheered. “You’re brave!” he assured them, urging them to continue riding the waves of love and charity. “Be surfers of love. This is a task I give you today.”
Some of the young volunteers then greeted the Pope personally. Shortly before 5 p.m., the encounter wrapped up with the Pope leading the youth in praying the Our Father and then giving the apostolic blessing. “And now to ride the wave!” he said as a last encouragement.
The Pope then moved on to a farewell ceremony at Figo Maduro Air Base in Lisbon.
On his return flight from World Youth Day on Sunday, Pope Francis explained why he opted to skip reading a prayer in Fatima that consecrated the Church and “countries at war” to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
When asked by a journalist why he did not pray publicly for an end to the war in Ukraine during his visit to the Fatima shrine, the Pope explained that he prayed for peace but did not want to “advertise” his private prayer.
“I prayed, I prayed. I prayed to Our Lady, and I prayed for peace. I did not advertise this, but I prayed. And we must continually repeat this prayer for peace,” the Pope said during an in-flight press conference on his return from Lisbon on Aug. 6.
“She [Our Lady] made this request during the First World War. And this time I appealed to Our Lady and I prayed. I did not advertise.”
Last year, Pope Francis consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Blessed Virgin Mary in St. Peter’s Basilica with a prayer asking for peace in the world, one month after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, asking all of the bishops of the world to join him.
Immediately following the Pope’s Saturday morning visit to Fatima, where he chose to simply pray a “Hail Mary” rather than read a prepared consecration prayer, the Vatican published an excerpt of the prayer on Pope Francis’ official Twitter account, now known as X.
The skipped prayer was one of many instances that the Pope deviated from his prepared speeches during World Youth Day in Portugal Aug. 1-6. Noting how often the Pope had done this, one journalist asked him about his health, and his eyesight, in particular.
“My health is fine,” Pope Francis responded, explaining that he cut off one of his speeches because “there was a light in front of me and I couldn’t read.”
In other instances, he said he shortened or changed his homilies based on the response of his audience.
“When I speak, I don’t do academic homilies, but I try to make it as clear as possible,” he explained.
“You noticed that I asked a few questions and immediately the feedback showed me where it was going, whether it was wrong or not,” he said. “Young people don’t have a long attention span. Think about it: If you make a clear speech with an idea, an image, an affection, they can follow you for eight minutes.”
The Holy Father also shared his impressions of World Youth Day — the fourth he’s attended as Pope.
The attendance in Lisbon, he noted, was “impressive,” pointing to estimates that as many as 1.4 million or more attended the Saturday evening vigil. In addition to this youth event being “the most numerous” it was the “best prepared,” he added.
“The young people are a surprise. Young people are young, they act youthful, life is like that. But they are seeking to move forward. And they are the future. The idea is to accompany them,” he said.
“The problem is knowing how to accompany them,” the Pope continued. “And that is that they shouldn’t detach themselves from their roots. That’s why I insist so much on dialogue between old and young, between grandparents with grandchildren. This dialogue is important, more important than the parent-child dialogue. The grandparents, the roots. Young people are religious. They seek faith, not something artificial … They seek an encounter with Jesus.”
He added: “Some people say, ‘But young people don’t always live life according to morality.’ But who among us has not made a moral mistake in his life? Everyone has.
“There should be commandments. Each of us has our own downfalls in our own history. Life is like that. But the Lord is always waiting for us because he is merciful and [he is] Father and mercy goes beyond everything,” he said.
During the 25-minute in-flight press conference, Pope Francis stressed that mental health and suicide are serious issues facing young people today and that he does not believe that it is discussed enough by the media.
The Pope revealed that a young man had confided in him (not in the context of confession) that he had considered committing suicide last year.
“Youth suicide is a major issue today,” the Pope added.
“So many young people are anxious and depressed … In some countries that are very, very demanding at the university, young people who do not succeed in getting a degree or finding a job, (and) commit suicide because they feel great shame.”
In the press conference, Pope Francis also touched on the membership of the Catholic Church and access to the sacraments. A journalist recalled the Pope’s own words during the World Youth Day welcome ceremony Aug. 3, that, “In the Church, there is room for everyone, for everyone,” and asked why women and homosexual people cannot access every sacrament.
Pope Francis said the question concerned two different aspects of ecclesiology: the membership of the Church and its regulations.
“What you say is a simplification: ‘He cannot participate in the sacraments.’ This does not mean that the Church is closed,” Francis said.
He emphasized that the Church welcomes everyone, including homosexual people.
“The Lord is clear: the sick and the well, the old and the young, the ugly and the beautiful, the good and the bad. Even the immoral [person], which is bad, but the immoral too,” he said.
Pope Francis described the Church as a mother who guides her children in the maturation of their faith through prayer, interior dialogue, and dialogue with pastors.
“In [ministry], one of the important things is patience: accompanying people step by step on their way to maturity,” he said. “Each one of us has this experience: that the Mother Church has accompanied us and accompanies us in our own path of maturation.”
“I don’t like the reduction,” he added. “This is not ecclesial, it is gnostic. … A certain Gnosticism that reduces ecclesial reality, and that doesn’t help. The Church is ‘mother,’ receiving everyone, and everyone makes their own way within the Church, without advertisement, and this is very important.”
With B.C. Catholic files
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