WYD: Young people from Turkey to Yemen join the Pope on the journey to Lisbon
For young Turks, the meeting offers an opportunity to "build a local Church" by meeting fellow Christians from other Turkish dioceses and vicariates. A young man from Yemen will arrive with the Gulf delegation. The Lebanese will mark the third anniversary of the tragic explosion of 4 August 2020 with adoration and prayers. The auxiliary bishop of Baghdad hopes that the Mideast might host WDY one day.
Milan (AsiaNews) – Hundreds of young people from various countries in the Middle East are heading to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day (WYD) scheduled for 2 to 6 August.
All are motivated by distinct intentions. For young Turks, it will be a chance to "build a local Church". A Catholic from Yemen will be able to bear witness to a country torn apart by years of a brutal war that also touched its small Christian community, through the sacrifice of the Sisters of Aden, “Mother Teresa's seed”, in the land of Arabia. Iraqi Christians are "happy" to represent their country’s Church and meet Pope Francis again after his apostolic journey in March 2021. Young Lebanese will perform "adoration and prayers" to remember the victims of the tragic explosion at the Port of Beirut on 4 August 2020.
The theme of the first post-pandemic, global youth gathering chosen by Pope Francis is “Mary arose and went with haste” taken from the Gospel of Luke.
Responding to a pressing call made several times by the Vicar of Anatolia Bishop Paolo Bizzeti, Catholics from Turkey will use this opportunity to "build a local Church”. This is one of the intentions motivating young Turks ahead of the meeting with the pope at the westernmost edge of Europe, notes Fr Antuan Ilgıt, Jesuit and vicar general, who spoke to AsiaNews.
Until the last moment, their participation was in doubt, especially for those from areas hit by last February’s devastating earthquake in Turkey (and Syria); but “thanks to the solidarity and help of the Church in Reggio Emilia,’ they have made it.
Some "35 young men and women" will come from the dioceses and vicariates of Istanbul, Anatolia, and Izmir. “We have also included a couple of African and Venezuelan Catholic students in Turkey on a scholarship. There are Armenians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, newly baptised, a couple of catechumens to represent, to some extent, a cross-section of Turkey’s Church and Christian community.”
Some have taken part in previous WYD, but for most, this is the “first time" to leave their country. There is "great eagerness to go to Lisbon, to meet the pope and other young people, for a true experience of catholicity."
Their journey began when they joined 1,600 young people from the Diocese of Reggio Emilia (twinned with Anatolia) and another 80 Jordanians passing through Italy.
"We are travelling together. We started with a Mass celebrated in Reggio Emilia, and encouraged the kids to share ideas and thoughts,” said Fr Antuan. Three participants from Turkey, Italy and Jordan spoke about their experience of faith and life.
“The first stop was Barcelona, where we took part in a Mass at the Sagrada Familia led by Jesuit Fr Jean Paul Hernandez; then we headed to Toledo".
“Preparations for the young people from Anatolia began before the earthquake. After the devastation we planned to scrap the trip due to economic and other difficulties faced by their families,” the clergyman explained. Thankfully, the support of the Diocese of Reggio Emilia (northern Italy) has made it possible to undertake the journey towards Lisbon.
"Young people want to share, open up to others, get to know each other, especially since they come from different places – Istanbul, Anatolia and Izmir – and don’t have many opportunities to meet at home.”
“Young people and adult guides were very impressed by the hospitality, the host families, the Masses and singing, by feelings of enthusiasm, Fr Antuan said. “On the streets of Barcelona, the kids waved Turkish flags and sang religious hymns, showing how beautiful it is to be Turkish and Christian.”
The journey of young people from the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia (United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen) is already underway, Bishop Paolo Martinelli told AsiaNews.
The group includes 250 young people from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), about 20 young people from Oman and "one also from Yemen" who left "several days ago" on a "pilgrimage to different places in Europe, in particular Lourdes.”
“They prepared for a whole year,” Bishop Martinelli said. In Abu Dhabi, they received additional input from the vicar and others like "meditations, dances and songs inspired by the WYD’s theme". Bishop Martinelli is also set to join the group.
"Young people are full of enthusiasm both for the journey they are undertaking and for what they will experience in Lisbon. “I follow them through videos" posted on social media, the he added.
"They really want to meet other young Christians from around the world to exchange experiences, welcome the word of God, and let themselves be 'moved' by it, like Mary towards her cousin Elizabeth.”
The purpose of the journey is “to love and be loved" as well as "discover one's own place in the world, one’s vocation. They feel made for great things.”
“They are looking forward to meet Pope Francis, who is much loved by our young people,” with fresh memories of the visit he made in February 2019 “to sign the document [on human fraternity], the Eucharistic celebration at the stadium in Abu Dhabi, and the visit to the Cathedral of St Joseph.”
The pope’s presence led "reaching out to everyone” and a “commitment to peace and justice", rediscovering "the importance of dialogue with different religions, for us, especially with Muslims.”
Finally, “young people seek out the pope for support in the task of protecting creation; Laudato Sì is a text that we often turn to, and [the environment is] an issue that we feel strongly in the Emirates, in view of COP28 set to take place in Dubai.”
About a hundred young people have come for the WYD from Iraq and are already in Portugal’s capital, confirmed Auxiliary Bishop Basil Yaldo of Baghdad.
"They are happy to represent the Catholic Church in Iraq,” explained the right-hand man of the Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako. Some “seven priests and five nuns, also young” have come as their guide on this journey.
St John Paul II launched WYD as “proof of God's love and of the encounter with brothers". Its “universal" character is aimed at promoting "brotherhood,” notes the prelate on the Chaldean patriarchate’s website.
Bishop Yaldo hopes that one day the WYD might be hosted by a Mideast country. In the meantime, “the beautiful thing about these meetings is the exchange of experiences, learning about other cultures and living as brothers and sisters” without consideration for “race, gender, or ethnicity”.
“With these meetings bridges are built" and young people become “the tools of peace that the world needs,” he added.
Finally, some 475 young people are expected from Lebanon. About 200 were able to travel to Portugal thanks to support from the Youth Commission of the Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon (APCL).
Others are members of various movements – neo-catechumens, Chemin Neuf, Renewal in the Holy Spirit, etc. – as well as representatives of dioceses like as Antelias and Batroun.
Greek Catholic Archbishop Georges Bacouni of Beirut and Byblos will accompany the delegation, plus eight more priests to best represent the various groups in the Church in Lebanon. Youth Commission Chairman Roy Jreich and Chaplain Fr Charbel Daccache are also going.
The event coincides with the anniversary of the two explosions that devastated the Port of Beirut on 4 August 2020; for this reason, it was decided to hold an hour of "adoration and prayer" in Lisbon cathedral on the anniversary joining “all the Lebanese in the world" affected by the tragedy.
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