The Diocese of Viana do Castelo will welcome more than 2,000 young foreigners to participate in the run-up to World Youth Day (WYD), and the number could increase in the coming months, the head of the organization said on Monday.
WYD diocesan organizing committee coordinator Domingos Meia told Lusa news agency that young people will come from France, Spain, Poland, Italy, Bolivia and England and will be in the Viana do Castelo area between July 26th and 31st, a week before WYD. which takes place in Lisbon from 1 to 6 August.
“Only in May, June, we will have more accurate data on the number of young foreigners who have chosen the Viana do Castelo area to prepare for the trip,” said parish priest Domingos Meira.
The coordinator of the diocesan organizing committee said that “the motivation of families to accept these young people has been going on throughout January”, and on Saturday “closer work” will begin with parishes in the Viana do Castelo area to “continue to ‘prepare’ the arrival.
“We already have families interested in hosting guests. It will be a family and close reception. That’s what’s meant for these days. So that they know the reality of the places where they are going to stay, and that our communities preserve these moments of communication that both young people celebrate, whoever gets them,” he said.
The diocese of Viana do Castelo, the most recent in the country, was founded by the bull of Blessed Paul VI, published on November 3, 1977, and covers 10 municipalities of Alto Minho, uniting 291 parishes and about 120 priests.
Considered the largest event of the Catholic Church, World Youth Day is expected to bring together about 1.5 million people in Lisbon this year.
The main ceremonies in which Pope Francis will take part will take place in the Tagus Park, north of the Parque des Nations, on the banks of the Tagus River, in the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures.
The days were born at the initiative of Pope John Paul II after the success of the meeting organized in 1985 in Rome as part of the International Year of Youth.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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