How do you start to write about the largest Catholic Gathering of Young People since Panama 2019?

Well, let's start by saying the Church is still very much alive in Young People all around the world. Officials say that there were 1.5 million people at Campo da Graça for the Mass on Sunday.

But it wasn't all about the Mass on Sunday. There were 2 weeks of activities for World Youth Day. From the 26^th-31^st July, pilgrims were invited to spend days in the dioceses of Portugal to begin their pilgrimage and join the parish communities around the country.

You can read more about the Days in the Diocese here: https://www.lisboa2023.org/en/days-in-the-dioceses

The main festivities started on Tuesday, with the Opening Mass led by the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, Dom Manuel Clemente. This was the first major celebration of the World Youth Day week, as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims descended on the Colina do Encontro (Edward VII park).

We received a very warm welcome from the Cardinal who asked each pilgrim to spread that welcome to everyone they met, in the same way Elizabeth welcomed Mary.

On Wednesday, our pilgrims went to the Salesian School in Estoril to celebrate the Salesian Youth Movement day. It was an opportunity for the pilgrims to meet and reunite with other Salesians from all over the world and for the young people to have an opportunity to celebrate the Salesian atmosphere. The theme of the day was 'Come, Live, Proclaim'.

Come – is to accept the invitation to travel to World Youth Day. Encouraging and challenging those we know to participate in activities to captivate them to encounter Jesus, just as Don Bosco did.

Live – is an exclusive invitation to the experience at the SYM day as a Salesian Family spread around the world. To live is to encounter, share experiences and the multicultural nature of the Salesian Charism.

Proclaim – is the challenge given to us by the Portuguese Salesians. To take the experience from the day and share it to the people we know back home.

Portuguese Salesian young people performed a dance about the dream of 9, which we will celebrate the Bicentenary of in this coming year. There were various sport activities to take part in, as well as spaces for reflection and prayer. The day finished with a prayerful vigil with adoration before ending with a Goodnight by the Rector Major, Don Angel, who encouraged all of us to "Dream something beautiful and authentic for your lives from God".

Thursday gave our pilgrims their first chance to experience the 'City of Joy' which was in the district of Belem. In the City of Joy, each street was named after a previous World Youth Day, and in them, there were stalls that pilgrims could meet various religious groups that work all over the world, and maybe haven't met in their home country before. There was a chapel for prayer and reflection and a chapel where exposition of the blessed sacrament was available. There was also a reconciliation park where pilgrims could receive the sacrament of reconciliation from any number of priests.

In the afternoon, Pope Francis shared his welcome to the pilgrims that had all travelled to Lisbon. He addressed the fears that some young people had about their fears of not being accepted for who they are. He said, "there is room for everyone in the Church … and whenever there is not, please, we must make room." He invited everyone to repeat "Todos, Todos, Todos" (Everyone, everyone, everyone) to really remind us that there is room for everyone in the Church.

Friday was a more restful day for our pilgrims, who once again got to go back to the 'City of Joy' but could also have some time exploring Lisbon. Some of them took the opportunity to see Lisbon, while others stayed in Belem, and others went to the beach for the afternoon. Those that stayed in Belem, were treated to a Salesian Flash Mob at one of the stages in the 'City of Joy'.

In the evening, the Pope led the Way of the Cross with all the Pilgrims. The service was a mixture of prayer, reflection, music, testimonies, and dance and dramatic performances. The Pope spoke about how Jesus was most often found on the road, on his journey, and that Jesus was accompanying us on our journey in Lisbon.

Saturday was the day where pilgrims would travel to Campo da Graça for the evening Vigil and Sunday Mass. But before that, the Pope visited Fatima, which was where our pilgrims were staying. We were unsure about the time he was arriving, so many of our pilgrims got up at 5am to wait for him. Some spent a little bit longer in bed. But at about 8:30am the Pope arrived in Fatima to adoring crowds.

We also got to celebrate the Salesian Sisters renewing their vows on the feast of the formation of the Salesian Sisters. Srs Bernie, Gill and Anne-Frances all continued their promise to the Salesian Sisters, Sr Bernie celebrating her Ruby anniversary as a Salesian Sister.

In the afternoon, on what was a very hot day, pilgrims travelled to the camp where these activities would be held. We very quickly found our section which was nicely close to the water point so we could stay hydrated. Although we were going to wait for 4 and a half hours, the time soon went by. And we were lucky enough to be close to our exit to see the Pope drive past our camping spot.

As the Pope started the vigil, the Ensemble group (a group of 50 young people from 21 countries), started a performance showing how difficult it can be to encounter Jesus when we are distracted by social media and technology. Slowly, when we ignore those distractions, we can actually hear Jesus so that we can encounter him.

We heard testimonies from pilgrims whose lives were changed when they encountered God in their lives. We were also treated to a drone light show that started flying around like a flock of birds before displaying the words 'Rise Up' and 'Follow me' in many different languages.

We heard from the Pope that told us that there are two steps to take at the beginning of each day: To set out and to go.

The first step is to start the day by accepting the fact that each of us is a gift, and the second is to make yourself a gift to others. He continued and spoke about God making this beautiful world for us, yet do we create something beautiful for anyone else? He reflected saying that Adoration was a time for us to see Jesus, and for Jesus to see us. It is a deeply personal encounter, but also a source of strength to then get up and go. Then adoration began, and the park, that had been full of voices, music and singing, fell deafly quiet – just hearing the wind, and the water break on the shore.

Following the vigil's conclusion, a concert began with many people performing through till about 11:30pm before a film about the importance of caring for the environment and Laudato Sii finished the evening off at about 1am. Then it was time for people to try and get some sleep, others were happy to stay awake and talk through the night and play games until the morning.

And morning came, and it was one of the more surreal experiences I've had waking up to. After a nice gentle wake up song, we were then transported to Glastonbury for a 7am DJ set. But it was a very special DJ set. The DJ was Fr Guilherme, a priest from Portugal that would play DJ sets, but gained fame through the COVID pandemic by live streaming DJ sets on Facebook, and teaching others that there were other ways to pray. Below is a link to the video which gives you the opportunity to enjoy our alarm clock too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YrIXmoLaMM

After a wake-up "dance", we were ready to welcome the Pope back to the park for Sunday Mass. And we were lucky, again to watch the Pope drive past us before he made his way to the Altar.

During the Mass, the Pope again challenged us there to shine, to listen and not to be afraid. To follow our dreams amid the fear that they might not come true, and that the church needs young people in the same way that the earth needs its rain.

Following communion, the most anticipated moment of the week arrived, about learning where the next World Youth Day will take place. The Pope invited everyone present to join him in Rome in 2025 for the Jubilee year of Young People before the next World Youth Day in 2027, taking place in Seoul, South Korea.

But that wasn't the end of the pilgrimage, on Monday our pilgrims got taken round Fatima, by Fr Steven Lloyd SDB. He showed them the important sites of the town and explained their significance to pilgrims that travel to Fatima. Then the pilgrims had the opportunity to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation or talk to a priest about their faith. And there was time to explore by themselves and buy any last-minute souvenirs before joining the candlelight procession in the evening.

Our pilgrimage ended on the Tuesday, where we celebrated Mass together and gave thanks to the leaders that had arranged everything and looked after us while we were in Portugal.

It was a wonderful week in Lisbon and Fatima, spent with incredible young people from all over the province. Hopefully the message of World Youth Day "Mary arose and went with haste" will speak to the young people that they will go out and spread the message of the Gospel.

To look at more photos of the week visit our Facebook page, or go to Flickr here: https://flickr.com/photos/87339615@N06/albums/72177720310471036