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I ask you to accompany me with prayer in my journey to Portugal, which will begin next Wednesday, on the occasion of World Youth Day.
With this, Pope Francis invited the whole Church to pray for him and the young people traveling to Lisbon. He made this appeal after leading the midday Angelus on July 30.
A great many young people, from all continents, will experience the joy of the encounter with God and with their brothers and sisters, guided by the Virgin Mary, who after the annunciation “arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39).
I entrust the World Youth Day pilgrims and all young people of the world to Her, shining star of the Christian path.
With this reflection, the Pope referenced the theme of this year's World Youth Day.
The Pope will travel to Portugal from August 2 to 6. He will participate in the major events of WYD: The official welcome on August 3, the Stations of the Cross on August 4, the prayer vigil on August 5, and the final Mass on August 6.
As well, he will visit the Marian shrine of Fatima on August 5.
Francis' message for the World Youth Day can be read in full here.
He begins:
In these troubling times, when our human family, already tested by the trauma of the pandemic, is racked by the tragedy of war, Mary shows to all of us, and especially to you, young people like herself, the path of proximity and encounter. I hope and I firmly believe that the experience many of you will have in Lisbon next August will represent a new beginning for you, the young, and – with you – for humanity as a whole.
