Portuguese authorities see Pope off after WYD

By Linda Bordoni

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was awaiting Pope Francis on Sunday evening at Lisbon’s Figo Maduro airbase at the conclusion of his 42nd international Apostolic Visit for World Youth Day 2023.
 

A Farewell Ceremony, attended also by other political authorities and ecclesial delegations marked the moment in which the Pope concluded the intense 5-day visit that also took him to Fatima, on Saturday 5 August, to pray for peace in the Shrine dedicated to Our Lady.

The events of the last day of the 2023 World Youth Day included a Mass with over a million young people present and the announcement of Seoul, South Korea, as the venue for the next such international event in 2027.

But before his departure, the Pope did not neglect to thank the tens of thousands of volunteers who made this WYD in Lisbon possible, and whom he described as “Surfers of love!”

The Portuguese TAP Air Portugal Airbus bringing the Pope back to Rome is scheduled to arrive shortly after 10 pm local time.