Pope Francis meets close collaborator of Rupnik

A screenshot from Pope Francis’ May 4 video message to young people attending World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. / Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, May 4, 2023 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has sent a video message to the teens and young adults preparing to attend World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, in August.

“I’ll see you in Lisbon,” he said, according to an English translation of the message, delivered in Spanish. The message was published on the Vatican’s YouTube page on May 4, just under three months before the Aug. 1-6 international gathering.

“Dear young people, you are getting ready for World Youth Day,” Pope Francis said. “There are three months to go. I can imagine the things you must have on your mind… how you’re going to: make it happen, request your work or study permit, get what you need for your trip, so many concerns, but always looking towards that horizon, that dream.”

“To participate in WYD is something beautiful,” he said. “Prepare yourselves with that enthusiasm. Put hope in that. Have hope… because one grows a lot at an event like WYD.”

World Youth Day was established by Pope John Paul II in 1985. The weeklong gathering usually attracts hundreds of thousands of young people.

Pope Francis said the Portuguese capital would host the global Catholic gathering of young people at the closing Mass of the last international World Youth Day in Panama City in January 2019.

The event is typically held on a different continent every three years, with the presence of the pope. In 2020, the Vatican announced that World Youth Day would be postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lisbon, a city of 505,000 people, is about 75 miles from Fatima, one of the most visited Marian pilgrimage sites in the world. A report on “European Young Adults and Religion,” published in 2018, found that Portugal has one of the highest levels of weekly Mass attendance among young people in Europe.

In his video message, Pope Francis also shared “a secret” to preparing well for World Youth Day.

“To prepare well, it’s good to look towards your roots,” he said, encouraging young people to spend time with the elderly before the gathering.

“Many of you have grandparents. Visit your grandparents and ask them: ‘In your time did World Youth Day exist?’ — Surely not. ‘And what do you think I must do?’ Talk a little with your grandparents. They’ll give you wisdom.”

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Vatican City, Mar 9, 2018 / 04:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Rumors of a papal visit to the Baltic states this year have been going around for months, however, the Vatican confirmed the news Friday, announcing that Pope Francis will visit Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in September.

According to the March 9 communique, the Pope will travel to the three nations from Sept. 22-25, visiting the cities of Vilnius and Kaunas in Lithuania, Riga and Aglona in Latvia and Tallinn in Estonia.

The logo and motto for the visits were released along with the dates of the trip. Currently there is no official program for the visit, however, it is expected to be published shortly.

Francis’ September visit marks the first papal trip to the countries in a quarter of a century. He will be the second pope to travel to the Baltic states, exactly 25 years after St. Pope John Paul II, who visited the three countries in September 1993.

The theme for his visit to Lithuania is “Christ Jesus – Our Hope.” The motto for his visit to Lativia is “Show Thyself a Mother” in honor of the Virgin Mary, and the theme for Estonia is “Wake up, my heart!”

Each of the countries is predominantly Christian, with a mix of Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox populations, meaning that Francis’ visit, in keeping with his style, will likely have a strong ecumenical focus.

Both Estonia and Latvia have large Lutheran and Orthodox populations. Lithuania, on the other hand, is overwhelmingly Catholic, influenced largely by its historical connection to Poland.

More than 75 percent of the nearly 3 million people in Lithuania are Catholic, while Orthodox Christians make up about 4 percent of the population.

Latvia and Estonia, though historically Lutheran, have become increasingly non-religious. In Latvia, Lutheranism still accounts for about 34 percent of the population of just under 2 million and Catholics make up 25 percent, primarily in the eastern portion of the country. The third largest church in the nation is the Latvian Orthodox Church.

In Estonia, around 54 percent of the population of 1.3 million identify as non-religious. The Eastern Orthodox church accounts for about 16 percent and Lutheranism for almost 10 percent.

Francis’ visit also holds historical significance for the three countries, as the trip will take place during the centenary year of their establishment as independent states.

Until 1917, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formed part of the Russian empire. They gained independence in 1918, and remained independent until 1940, when they became part of the Soviet Union and endured Nazi domination from 1940-1944.

After their years under Nazi control, they were returned to the Soviet Union in 1945, and regained democratic independence in 1991. They have been members of the European Union since 2004.

St. John Paul II had a special fondness for Lithuania in particular, and shortly after his election famously declared that “half of my heart is in Lithuania.”

The Lithuanian capital of Vilnius is also linked to the image of Divine Mercy, as it was the city in which St. Faustina Kowalska received the visions of Jesus requesting the painting of the Divine Mercy image, and is where the original Divine Mercy image is located, to which John Paul II had a special devotion.

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