LISBON (HRNW) — Pope Francis challenged Europe to retake its role as a peacemaker and bridgebuilder as he arrived Wednesday in Portugal to open World Youth Day, hoping to inspire the next generation of Catholics to work together to combat conflicts, climate change and other problems facing the world.
Francis was spending five days in Lisbon, blending a state visit and pilgrimage to the Catholic shrine at Fatima with the raucous trappings of World Youth Day, the Catholic jamboree that aims to rally young Catholics in their faith. More than 1 million young people from around the world were expected to attend the gathering, which culminates with a papal Mass on Sunday.
As he was traveling to Lisbon, Francis vowed to continue urging young people to “make a mess” – a reference to his now-famous exhortation at his first World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013. It was a call for young people to shake things up in their parishes, and has come to symbolize Francis’ own revolutionary reforms that have shaken up the church at large.
Francis’ first stop was at the Belem National Palace, the official presidential residence in Belem, west of Lisbon, from where Portugal’s maritime explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries set sail. Francis referred to Portugal’s sea-faring history, its place in Europe and its openness to others in his opening remarks to Portuguese government authorities and the diplomatic corps at a nearby conference center.