Pope Jokes With Journalists on the Plane to Lisbon: ‘I Will Return Rejuvenated’

Pope Francis landed in Lisbon, Portugal, to kick off World Youth Day. It’s his first trip since the abdominal hernia operation he had in June.

At the foot of the stairs of the pope’s airplane, the Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was waiting for him. But he waited in vain because the pope did not use the stairs, as he usually does since he has knee problems.

He used the freight elevator on the other side of the plane.

Then the pontiff and the president greeted each other with great affection. Pope Francis used the wheelchair at all times.

During the flight he joked with the press, saying that he hopes to get younger with this trip.

Some journalists presented him with gifts.

Eva Fernandez, from COPE, gave him a very special one: the letter from Pablo de la Cruz, the young man with Ewing’s sarcoma who took his vows as a barefoot Carmelite shortly before his death on July 15.

A Glance Through the History of World Youth Day From Pope John Paul II to Pope Francis

This year marks the 39th anniversary of the Palm Sunday that Pope John Paul II spent in St. Peter’s Square with 250,000 young people.

There, he gave them a cross, which would later become one of the symbols of World Youth Day.

“Carry it through the world as a symbol of Christ’s love for humanity,” Pope John Paul II told the crowd of youth then.

The institution of World Youth Day was officially announced in 1985.

In 1987, the first international meeting took place. The city chosen was Buenos Aires.

The eight World Youth Days of Pope John Paul II were widely attended and the momentum continued with Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Benedict’s last World Youth Day as pope took place in Madrid in 2011. One of the most exciting moments was the vigil with the youth, even despite the rain.

“Thank you for this joy and endurance,” Pope Benedict XVI said. “Your strength is stronger than the rain. Thank you. The Lord sends us his blessings with the rain. With this, you set an example.”

Just a few months after being elected pope, Pope Francis traveled to Rio de Janeiro to preside over World Youth Day. There, one of the most famous phrases of his pontificate was heard for the first time: “Make a mess!”

“I would like to say one thing: what do I expect as a result of Youth Day,” Pope Francis asked the crowd. “I expect trouble. That there will be trouble here. There will be. That there will be trouble here in Rio. But I want trouble in the dioceses; I want it to go beyond.”

In Krakow, in 2016, Pope Francis visited Auschwitz and prayed in silence in the cell where St. Maximilian Kolbe was tortured.

And each day, from a balcony, he gave a good night speech to the youth. In one of them, he remembered a volunteer who died of cancer weeks earlier.

The last World Youth Day that Pope Francis presided over was in Panama in 2019, where he dedicated several messages to the Virgin Mary. In one of them, he defined her as “God’s influencer.”

“Undoubtedly, the young woman from Nazareth did not appear in the “social networks” of the time,” Pope Francis said. “She was not an “influencer,” but without wanting or looking for it, she became the woman who influenced history the most. And we can call her, with the confidence of children, Mary, God’s “influencer.”

This World Youth Day in Lisbon is the fourth presided over by Pope Francis, motivated by the mission of bringing young people closer to their faith.

American Nurse, Child Taken From Grounds Of Charity in Haiti

A Christian nurse and her child, both Americans, are two of the latest victims abducted by a criminal gang in Haiti.

The U.S. government is quietly and cautiously working to secure their release.

“We are in regular contact with the Haitian authorities and we’ll continue to work with them and our U.S. interagency partners,” Matthew Miller, U.S. State Department Spokesperson, said

The family and friends of Alix Dorsainvil are asking for prayers, mercy, and the safe return for the nurse from New Hampshire and her child.

They were kidnapped Thursday from the grounds of the faith-based charity El Roi, near the Haitian Capital Port Au Prince.

Her husband, Sandro, is El Roi’s director.

World Youth Day Will Be the Pope’s First Trip Since Hernia Surgery

It’s Pope Francis’ first trip since he underwent an abdominal hernia operation in June.

While it’s his fourth World Youth Day trip as pontiff, it’s the first one since the pandemic.

At 86 years old, Pope Francis is still looking forward to meeting with the young people.

Currents News’ Christine Persichette caught up with Elise Allen, the senior correspondent for Crux, to discuss what to expect from Pope Francis during his trip to Portugal.

Brooklyn Diocese World Youth Day Pilgrims Attend Mass at Fatima

By Jessica Easthope

Pilgrims from the Diocese of Brooklyn showed up to World Youth Day this year as a sea of blue.

The Marian shrine at Fatima, Portugal, is visited by 6 million pilgrims every year.

On Tuesday, August 1, more than 300 of them were from the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Currents News’ Jessica Easthope caught up with Bishop Robert Brennan after Mass at Fatima.

“It was so edifying for me as a priest and bishop to come down the aisle and see everyone in the blue shirts; Brooklyn is really well represented here and it’s very inspiring,” Bishop Brennan said.

He was on the bus with pilgrims from Brooklyn and Queens who said being there allowed them to reflect on their beliefs.

“I’ve been going with the flow in such a calm way, it’s been prayerful,” said Isabella Zegarra. “We’ve had moments of reflection. There are so many people that it helps you look into yourself, it’s the first day so I’m excited for more, she added.

“It’s very touching,” said Anthony Decastro, another pilgrim from the diocese who is attending World Youth Day. “Although it was very crowded, it’s overwhelming because you saw where everything came from and it’s all original, all down to earth.”

Both Bishop Brennan and Father Jason Espinal, the pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in Williamsburg, said the pilgrims have been focused on making a connection with Jesus Christ and each other.

“Sometimes you’re far at a distance but you still see them so well behaved, so reverent, so pious, and you see the fruit that’s working in their heart,” Father Espinal said.

“These are young people who worked really hard to get here, they’re not here on vacation, they’re here working and praying, we’re so proud,” Bishop Brennan added.

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday 08/01/2023

World Youth Day Lisbon has officially kicked off.

Pope Francis will head to Portugal on August 2nd.

While in Lisbon, Pope Francis will put the final touch on a mural that’s been worked on by people of all different backgrounds from all over the world.

A Christian nurse and her child in Haiti were abducted by a criminal gang from the grounds of a faith-based charity.

Brooklyn Diocese Pilgrims Arrive in Europe for World Youth Day

They’re trickling in from all corners of the Diocese of Brooklyn and ready to encounter Catholics from all corners of the world.

Ahead of official World Youth Day activities, pilgrims from St. Patrick’s Church in Bay Ridge are already having a spiritual experience.

They started their trip by climbing some of the highest parts of the mountains in Montserrat in Catalonia, Spain.

“As a group we hiked all the way up to this point where there was a cross and you could see over most of Barcelona so that was really cool,” Kerry Woods, a young parishioner at St. Patrick’s, said.

Woods, 17, said it’s been a whirlwind journey thus far, from the peaks of the city to the ceiling of the Segrada Familia, the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world.

“It had these stained glass windows inside and everything in the church had a meaning,” Woods said. “Nothing in there was random.”

During the week of World Youth Day, pilgrims are committed to attending Mass daily, even before the event begins.

Ryan Diyarza, 17, who also attends St. Patrick’s Church, said his group is jetlagged but their excitement is right on time.

“At 3 a.m. we get on a bus and we go to the airport and we have to go through customs and we’re getting on a plane for a two hour flight and we lose time and then we go straight out to Fatima,” Diyarza said. “It’s going to be no sleep, but it’s going to be worth it.”

Catholic News Headlines for Monday 07/31/2023

World Youth Day Lisbon officially kicks off tomorrow, July 31, but hundreds of participants from the Diocese of Brooklyn are either already there or en route.

The National Black Catholic Congress was a rousing success. Thousands of the faithful gathered in Maryland for the annual meeting, including Bishop Robert Brennan and about 70 people from the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Hoboken’s St. Febronia Chapel Becomes Symbol of Renewed Devotion to Sicilian Saints

By Jessica Easthope

Dan Murphy puts out the banners and rings the bell at the St. Febronia Chapel in Hoboken. Most days it sits empty, but not today.

Every year on the feast of St. Ann, a crowd from the streets of the city processes into the century-old chapel to pray for the intercession of St. Febronia and the Madonna of Tindari.They’re the patron saints of Patti, Italy a small Sicilian town with a stronghold that once occupied Hoboken’s blocks.

“Basically they felt that their safety was put under her protection and their success here in this country also and they never wanted to forget that and continue that devotion,” said Dan.

Dan’s family is from Patti. Like many others, his devotion started during his childhood and now he’s helping keep it alive and the chapel running.

“It has allowed us to get in here and also foster our faith because it’s a connection to my past and it’s something I want hopefully my son to appreciate and the next generation to carry on,” he said.

The free-standing Catholic chapel doesn’t hold masses, but a monthly rosary. Constance Caiezza believes the Blessed Mother and St. Febronia are responsible for a shift in her faith, so she comes here to give thanks.

“The response that you get is very spiritual and you know when it happens because whatever God gives you is given with a great deal of peace and they’re like miracles,” she said.
And she knows that in the chapel others can find what she did.

“Whenever these doors are open people come by and marvel at the chapel and express such joy it’s so beautiful and to me this place is really a jewel, it’s significant and it’s holy, it’s a holy place,” said Constance.

A responsibility to carry on the devotion is exactly why Brendan Young finds himself in these pews. His family settled in Buffalo, New York when they immigrated from Patti. Now a New Jersey resident, he heard about the little chapel that could give him a big sense of self.

“I came into the chapel and I saw her and I saw the words on the base and it was just this beautiful sense of feeling at home right away, I felt this kinship and this feeling of home and this spiritual sense of peace so I’m very, very happy,” he said.

After 101 years, those who pray for St. Febronia and the Madonna of Tindari’s intercession say their faith and this chapel were built to last.

“The only way this is going to continue is if the next generation does something, takes some action,” said Dan.

“I think there’s a growing sense of shared responsibility and renewed interest of fervor and dedication to promoting our cultural but especially our spiritual heritage as Italian Americans and whatever I can do, nel mio piccolo in my own small way, I’ll be happy to do,” said Brendan.

So in the heart of Hoboken’s two square miles is a place that connects generations and continents to a faith that endures.

Diocesan Youth Prepare for World Youth Day Pilgrimage

Hundreds of pilgrims from the Diocese of Brooklyn are packing for a pilgrimage.

Their destination is Lisbon, Portugal, where they will celebrate World Youth Day with Pope Francis.

The weeklong pilgrimage will help bring the youth closer to Christ.

Gabriel Roman and Victoria Lopez from St. Joseph’s Church in Astoria will be among the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who will be attending the event.

The duo stopped by Currents News before their flight to discuss what they were looking forward to most on the trip. Be sure to tune in to Currents News and The Tablet for continuing coverage of World Youth Day.