DILI, 05 March 2023 (TATOLI)—Chairman of the Timor-Leste Catholic Youth National Council in Timor-Leste (CNYNC-TL), Pastor João Soares said that 100 young Timorese pilgrims will certainly participate in the World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations in Lisbon, Portugal.
“For this year’s WYD celebration in Lisbon, we are preparing 100 young pilgrims,” Father João Soares explained to Tatoli exclusively, this wednesday.
He explained that this celebration was not only for Timor-Leste because young Catholic pilgrims around the world received an invitation directly from the Pope.
In addition, CNYC-TL also actively communicates with the WYD National Commission in Portugal. Some of these young pilgrims are students and students who are currently studying in Portugal, including from Timor-Leste.
CNYC-TL has been registering since last year and the funds will close in March 2023 with the criteria for young pilgrims aged 18 to 25 years and having good physical condition.
“The main goal is for us to submit names to the organizing team as fast as possible for administrative processes, travel tickets, and other needs,” he said.
The costs for the journey from Tumor-Leste to Portugal will be the joint responsibility of the pilgrims, CNYC-TL, and the Government through the State Secretariat of Youth and Sports (SoSYS).
Celebrations for WYD will start on 01 to 06 August 2023, the pilgrims will leave for Portugal on 21 July 2023 because, before the celebration, the pilgrims will attend “Days in the Diocese”.
The “Days in the Dioceses”, a gathering of young people from around the world that precedes WYD Lisbon 2023, will be held from 26 to 31 July 2023 in 17 dioceses across mainland Portugal. Including islands of Algarve; Angra; Aveiro; steel; bragas; Braganca-Miranda; Coimbra; Evora; Funchal; guarda; Lamegos; Leiria-Fatima; Portalegre-Castelo Branco; Porto; Viana do Castelo; Real Villa; Viseu.
The main theme of WYD 2023 is ‘Mary arose and went with haste’ (Lk 1:39) is a Bible quote chosen by Pope Francis as the motto of World Youth Day (WYD) which will be held for the first time in the capital city of Lisbon, Portugal.
In the Bible episode, the standing action presents Mary as both a woman of charity and a missionary woman. Leaving in a hurry represents the attitude described in Pope Francis’ indication for WYD Lisbon 2023: “may the evangelization of young people be active and missionary because in this way they will recognize and bear witness to the living presence of Christ”.
Specifically addressed to young people, and challenging them to become courageous missionaries, the Pope wrote in his Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit: “Where is Jesus sending us? There are no boundaries, there are no boundaries: he sends us everywhere.
WYD was founded by John Paul II in 1985, his successors also embraced the idea enthusiastically and marked each edition of WYD with their presence.
A few months after his election as Pope, Benedict XVI participated in a meeting in Cologne, Germany in 2005, of particular interest being his country of origin. Furthermore, he attended events in Sydney, Australia, in 2008 and also in Madrid, Spain, in 2011.
In 2013, Pope Francis’ first apostolic trip outside Italy took him to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to attend WYD. He also attended the Krakow edition in Poland and most recently hosted the 2019 WYD in Panama City, Panama.
Journalist: José Belarmino De Sá
Editor: Nelia B.
