Pilgrims from all around the world are beginning to embark on an exciting journey to Lisbon, Portugal for World Youth Day next week, and among them is a contingent of pilgrims representing the Archdiocese of Denver.
Hundreds of people from different parishes, movements and apostolates around the archdiocese will be in attendance at World Youth Day, happening Aug. 1 – Aug. 6. They will join hundreds of thousands of fellow pilgrims from all around the world for five days of prayer, formation and deep communion with the universal Church.
In addition to parish groups, which include Annunciation, St. Catherine of Siena, Holy Cross, Our Lady of the Valley, St. James and many others, there are over 600 pilgrims with the Neocatechumental Way representing various parishes, an Archdiocese of Denver group, a group from the Colorado School of Mines and more.
Moreover, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila will also be in attendance at World Youth Day. In conjunction with the John Paul II Project, Archbishop Aquila will lead a Holy Hour of adoration and a meditation on the theme “I Am the Bread of Life” at the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima in Lisbon on Aug. 4. WYD Pilgrims are invited to join the archbishop in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
The theme chosen by Pope Francis for this year’s WYD comes from Luke 1:39 — “Mary arose and went with haste.” This is the first time WYD has been hosted in the capital city of Portugal, a location befitting of the Marian theme chosen by the Holy Father, given Our Lady’s apparitions in Fatima over 100 years ago.
“In these troubling times, 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,” the Holy Father said in his World Youth Day message last year. “I hope and I firmly believe that the experience many of you will have in Lisbon next August will represent a new beginning for you, the young, and — with you — for humanity as a whole.
Stay tuned to Denver Catholic next week in and the weeks that follow for more coverage and stories from World Youth Day Portugal.