Pope Francis’ envoy to Ukraine Cardinal Matteo Zuppi on June 6, 2023, finished a “brief but intense” two-day visit to Kyiv, which included a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. / Credit: Vatican News/YouTube
CNA Newsroom, Jun 6, 2023 / … […]
A screenshot from Pope Francis’ May 4 video message to young people attending World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Jun 6, 2023 / 11:45 am (CNA).
Pope Francis’ schedule for his trip to Portugal for World Youth Day 2023 was published by the Vatican on Tuesday.
During his Aug. 2–6 visit to the southern European country, the 86-year-old pope will split his time between WYD events and meetings with local government and religious leaders and other organizations.
He will also spend the morning of Aug. 5 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, about 75 miles northeast of Lisbon, where he will pray the rosary with sick young adults in the Marian shrine’s Chapel of Apparitions.
On the evening of Aug. 5, Pope Francis will participate in a vigil with World Youth Day participants at Tejo Park in Lisbon, a green space of more than 220 acres flanked by the Tagus River and with a view of Europe’s second-longest bridge, Vasco da Gama.
The park will be the site for WYD 2023’s main festivities, including Mass with Pope Francis on the final day.
Sunday Mass followed by a meeting with World Youth Day volunteers will be the pope’s final encounters before returning to Rome on the evening of Aug. 6.
The five-day trip will begin with a meeting with Portugal’s Catholic President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa followed by an address to government authorities, civil society members, and the diplomatic corps.
He will later meet with the country’s prime minister, António Costa, before praying vespers with local priests, bishops, seminarians, and consecrated men and women at the 16th-century Jerónimos Monastery, one of Lisbon’s top-visited sites.
On Aug. 3, Francis will meet students from the Portuguese Catholic University before traveling to the Cascais suburb west of Lisbon to spend time with young people from Scholas Occurentes, an international group that promotes education in poor communities.
That afternoon he will take part in his first World Youth Day event, a welcome ceremony at Eduardo VII Park.
On Friday, Aug. 4, Pope Francis will hear confessions, meet representatives of charity organizations, have lunch with young adults, and pray the Stations of the Cross.
The trip will mark Francis’ fourth World Youth Day after taking part in the international Catholic gatherings in Panama, Poland, and Brazil.
World Youth Day was established by Pope John Paul II in 1985. The weeklong celebration usually attracts hundreds of thousands of young people.
The theme of Lisbon’s World Youth Day, which will take place Aug. 1-6, is “Mary arose and went with haste.”
San Diego Auxiliary Bishops-elect Felipe Pulido and Michael Pham. / Credit: Diocese of Yakima, Father Michael Pham
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Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, Italy. / Francesco Pierantoni from Bologna, Italy – Premio Colombe d’oro per la pace via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0).
Rome Newsroom, Jun 5, 2023 / 07:55 am (CNA).
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Pope Francis prays at his Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square on April 12, 2023. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Vatican City, Jun 4, 2023 / 06:45 am (CNA).
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Pope Francis greets pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on March 22, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Jun 3, 2023 / 05:30 am (CNA).
The Vatican announced Saturday that Pope Francis will visit Mongolia, the world’s most sparsely populated sovereign country.
The pope is set to travel to Mongolia from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. The trip will make Pope Francis the first pope to visit the Asian country that shares a 2,880-mile border with China, its most significant economic partner.
Mongolia has a population of about 1,300 Catholics in a country of more than 3 million people.
The first modern mission to Mongolia was in 1922 and was entrusted to the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But under a communist government, religious expression was soon thereafter suppressed, until 1992. Mongolia’s first native priest was ordained in 2016.
Last year, Pope Francis named an Italian who had served as a missionary in Mongolia for nearly 20 years as the world’s youngest cardinal. Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, 48, is the apostolic prefect of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, which serves the entire country.
Roughly the size of Alaska, Mongolia has five people per square mile. About 30% of its population is nomadic or semi-nomadic. Bordering Russia to the north and China to the south, Mongolia is also the second-largest landlocked country in the world with the vast Gobi Desert covering one-third of its territory.
Pope Francis will also travel to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day this August with a visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.
The pope is also expected to travel to Marseille to preside over a Mass on Sept. 23 as part of a meeting of Mediterranean bishops in the port city in southern France.
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Pope Francis at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on May 17, 2023. / Vatican Media
Denver, Colo., May 31, 2023 / 11:45 am (CNA).
Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of June is for the abolition of torture.
“Torture is not past history. Unfortunately, it’s part of our history today,” Pope Francis said in a video released May 30.
“How is it possible that the human capacity for cruelty is so huge?” he questioned.
“There are extremely violent forms of torture. Others are more sophisticated, such as degrading someone, dulling the senses, or mass detentions in conditions so inhumane that they take away the dignity of the person.”
The pope reminded the faithful that this is not something new. He urged everyone to “think of how Jesus himself was tortured and crucified.”
He added: “Let us put a stop to this horror of torture. It is essential to put the dignity of the person above all else. Otherwise, the victims are not persons, they are ‘things’ and can be mistreated mercilessly, causing death or permanent psychological and physical harm lasting a lifetime.”
Pope Francis concluded his message with a prayer: “Let us pray that the international community commit itself concretely to abolish torture, guaranteeing support to victims and their families.”
Pope Francis’ prayer video is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.
Pope Francis at his general audience in St Peter’s Square on May 31, 2023. / Adi Zace/EWTN
Vatican City, May 31, 2023 / 05:30 am (CNA).
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Pope Francis meets with young cancer patients from Poland at the Vatican on May 29, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, May 30, 2023 / 11:30 am (CNA).
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