Pilgrims at St. Peter’s Basilica pray for World Youth Day participants

By Edoardo Giribaldi

Pilgrims arriving at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican have been invited “to join in communion of prayer for the young people gathered in Lisbon with Holy Father Francis.”

Prayers in the Basilica

As World Youth Day kicks off in Portugal, there will be opportunities for the Christian faithful who will not be physically present in Lisbon to participate with their prayers from 1 August to 6 August.

The initiative, in collaboration with the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, invites St. Peter’s visitors to attend the Masses celebrated in the Basilica and “daily Eucharistic Adoration in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the right aisle of the Basilica.”

The appeal specifies how Adoration times range “from the end of morning Mass, celebrated at 8:30 a.m. in the same Chapel, until 4:30 p.m., the time of the reposition.”

At the entrance to the Chapel, a notice reminds visitors of these special events, with “directions to access the WYD page of the St. Peter's Basilica website and download the official WYD prayer texts in several languages.”

Proximity and encounter

In his message for World Youth Day, dated 15 August, Pope Francis reflected on the event’s theme, which recalls a passage from Luke’s gospel: “Mary arose and went with haste.”

“In these troubling times,” the Pope wrote, “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.”

A healthy haste

“What kinds of ‘haste’ do you have, dear young people?” Pope Francis asked, highlighting how “a healthy haste drives us always upwards and towards others. Yet there is also an unhealthy haste, which can drive us to live superficially and to take everything lightly.”

The Pope concluded his message by blessing young people’s “dreams” and “every step” of their WYD journey.