The Pope asks the faithful to pray for the World Youth Summit starting in Lisbon on August 1, and for young people in a broader sense. "I would like to see the germ of the world of the future in Lisbon", stated Pope Francis.
"The Church needs the young so that it does not grow old," Pope Francis said in a video announcing his prayer intention for August, published on July 27, 2023. A few days before the opening of the World Youth Meeting in Lisbon ( WYD ), which he will participate in from August 2 to 6, Pope Francis dedicated his August prayer intention to this event.
In this video, the Pope talks to three young people, one from the Philippines, one from Brazil and one from the Ivory Coast, and emphasizes that
"the Church is not a club for the elderly, just as it is not a club for youth". "If it becomes a club for the elderly, it will surely die," warned St. II. Quoting Pope János Pál, "if we live with young people, we become young people".
Pope Francis also explained the choice of the motto of the World Youth Meeting: "Mary got up and set off in a hurry." For him, this is a call, an exhortation to young people to "start helping others".
"As soon as Mary finds out that she is going to be the mother of God, she doesn't stand there to take a selfie or show off. The first thing he does is to set out in a hurry to serve and help", emphasized Péter's successor.
Finally, Pope Francis confessed his dream that he would like to see in Lisbon "a germ of the world of the future" where "love is at the center". "We are at war and we need something else. To a world that is not afraid to bear witness to the Gospel", he emphasized. The head of the Catholic Church especially wants to see "joy, because if we Christians do not experience joy, then we are not authentic and no one believes us." Therefore, in August, the Pope asks the faithful to pray for the World Youth Meeting in Lisbon to help us, young people, to set out and bear witness to the Gospel with our lives."
Translated by Katalin Hegedüs
Source: Aleteia/zarandok.ma
