Last sight of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fátima, standing out against the early-morning mist / cloud / meteorological phenomenon (I'm not an expert, folks).
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Due to COVID-induced travel requirements, the whole of the diocesan pilgrimage was split over three separate departure routes from of Europe: Lisbon, Paris, and Madrid.
Myself and the pilgrim small group I was in would soon be on our allotted coach to Madrid. The last ones to leave Fátima, if memory serves—we were definitely the last ones to land back in Sydney at the end of everything.

A very brief refuelling stop for both coach and pilgrims at the CESPA (now Moeve, S.A.) Border Portugal service station on the Spanish-side of the Portugal/Spain border.​
​(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Along the highway we passed the walled city of Ávila, home of St Teresa of Ávila, on our way to Madrid.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

View from the truly airport-adjacent hotel of the just visible lights of Madrid-Barajas International Airport.
(​Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

This mural by the Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín titled "Hispanoamérica", is opposite the platform screen doors in Terminal T4 for the Madrid-Barajas Airport People Mover, which our group took to reach to Terminal T4S (satellite terminal) where our flight was scheduled to depart from that day. 
(​Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Finally arriving, our flight to take us from Madrid to Doha, Qatar, for our connection home to Australia.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Hardly warm, but familiar and comforting, and appreciated, refreshment in the car after getting through the International Arrivals gauntlet (as a first-timer) at Sydney Airport in the late evening.
Vincent Cavanagh © 2023

Post scriptum
Thank you to those who joined me on this—rather foolish—endeavour of marking and reliving three years on the pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2023 Lisbon.  I think it safe (if not more so for my own sanity) to say that this is where I leave buried the memory of WYD Lisbon and let the grass of time take over the disturbed soil beneath.
I leave the future memory-making to the younger ones in the Body of Christ.

Pax,
​​Vincent Cavanagh
10 August 2026

All stop while the more sporting–inclined pilgrims (not me) watched the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Round of 16 match between the Australian Women’s National Soccer Team, “the Matildas”, and Denmark on 7 August 2023.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Detail of some of the stained-glass windows depicting individual Saints inside the Chapel of St Stephen of Hungary at the end of the Via Sacra in Fátima.
From Left to Right: St Martin of Tours, St Adalbert of Prague, and St Mór (Maurus of Pécs).
​(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

The Eighth of the Fourteen bronze reliefs by the Portuguese sculptor Martinho de Brito depicting Mysteries of the Rosary inside the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, Fátima; this one showing Jesus being crowned with thorns by the Roman soldiers.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

One of a few murals in Fátima put up for World Youth Day 2023 Lisbon. The text in red on the left is the Portuguese for “World Youth Day” and the text on the right reads: “There is hurry in the air.”
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Vincent Cavanagh
7 August 2026

One of the two large tarpaulins used to mark territory for the diocese that I helped guard with diocese’s Advance Team. It later transpired that this tarpaulin was to be for the Under 18s part of the pilgrimage cohort.
​(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023) ​

Sunrise over the Tejo River.
A word to the wise, never say to yourself “I don't want to see the sun rise.” Because, from experience, doing so seems to all but guarantee that you will see it. And if you think that you'll get some sleep during the WYD Vigil night, with the constant floodlighting over the whole Vigil site?—Fuhgeddaboutit!
​(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023) ​

Sunlight breaking over weary WYD pilgrims and the Vasco da Gama Bridge, Lisbon, as Fr Guilherme Peixoto continues his DJ set for the morning.
​(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023) 

Vincent Cavanagh
5 August 2026

Wall mural by Pedro Das Neves in the inner courtyard (or whatever it’s correctly called) of the Iberostar Selection Lisboa hotel, our accommodation for World Youth Day Week in Lisbon.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Iberian glazed-tile (azulejo) artwork depicting Spring (Portuguese: Primavera) on the opposite, City-bound platform at Saldanha Metro station. Our pilgrim group were waiting on the suburb-bound platform for the metro service that would take us most of the way to the Gathering of Australian Pilgrims in Lisbon.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Sharing some Portuguese pastries and sweet delicacies after dinner, on the cobbles next to the foreshore of the Tejo River things, not far from the Duke of Terceira monument.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Sourcing another night’s dinner (dumplings in this case) from a hole-in-the-wall kitchen marked on the WYD Pilgrim App’s map as validating Pilgrim Meal Vouchers.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

A more traditional azulejo tile-work on the wall of the Coléginho de Santo-Antão-o-Velho (College chapel of St Anthony) where our third Rise-Up Catechesis was held. Thankfully indoors and out of the blazing sun!
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Vincent Cavanagh
1 August 2026

View of the Apostolic Palace from inside St Peter’s Square, Vatican City, Rome.
​(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

​Half of the wooden model of the Colosseum by Carlo Lucangeli on display, behind glass, inside the Colosseum itself.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

The body of St Robert Bellarmine, SJ, a major figure in the (Catholic) Counter-Reformation, laid to rest under a side altar on the right side of the Church of St Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius, Rome, next to his student St Aloysius Gonzaga, SJ, as Bellarmine had wished.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

[Video]
An impromptu performance of the sea shanty ‘Wellerman’ by Fr Samuel French and assorted World Youth Day pilgrims as we all waited for our flight from Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport to Lisbon, Portugal, to arrive at the terminal gate.
(​​Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Touchdown in Lisbon. View from the window of the airport bus as it took us from our arrived flight, past other aircraft, and on towards the main terminal building of Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Vincent Cavanagh
28 July 2026

Morning Mass in the Chapel of Frate Leone of the Papal Basilica and Sacred Convent of St Francis in Assisi, before our pilgrimage departed Assisi.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Standing room only in the cloister of the Monastery of St Rita (formerly St Mary Magdalene, in St Rita's time), Cascia, while hearing the life of St Rita. In the background is the (then dry) vine bush that St Rita tended under obedience to the Mother Superior, who was testing Rita's vocation, and which, after a time, came back to life and bore fruit. 
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Vincent Cavanagh
28 July 2026

[Taken end of Day 6]
Bronze relief on the pulpit in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, Assisi, depicting parts of the life of St Francis of Assisi.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

[Taken end of Day 6]
View of the Basilica of St Clare from the window of the shared hotel room in Assisi.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

[Day 7]
Bronze statues of Pietro di Bernardone and Pica di Bourlemont, the parents of St Francis of Assisi, by the Viterbo sculptor Roberto Joppolo outside the Chiesa Nuova, Assisi, which was built atop St Francis' family home, as our Assisi tour guide Eduardo Antonio told us how his own life mirrors that of Pietro.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Vincent Cavanagh
27 July 2026

Inlaid marble mosaic The She-Wolf Suckling Romulus and Remus (1360s, reconstructed by Leopold Maccari in 1865) on the nave floor of the Metropolitan Cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption, Siena, surrounded by emblems of major Italian cities.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2026)

View of the Piazza del Campo, Siena, as the split-for-lunch group started investigating places to find food.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Vincent Cavanagh
26 July 2026

More fool me for ordering the pizza for lunch and not expecting it to be as large as it ended up being. In hindsight, it was probably what kept me upright for the rest of the day until we returned to our accommodation on the outskirts of central Florence. Grazie molto!
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Vincent Cavanagh
25 July 2026

Detail of the mosaic of the Procession of Virgins upon the left wall (facing the Altar) of the Basilica of Sant’Apollinaire Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy.
From Left to Right: St Caecilia (partially out of frame), St Eulalia, St Agnes, St Agatha, St Pelagia, St Euphemia of Chalcedon.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Interior of The Chapel of Peace and Victory within ​the Basilica of Sant’Apollinaire Nuovo built in remembrance of the fallen of Word War I from across over Italy—including those unknown—and the benefactors who contributed to its construction. The chapel was consecrated on 30 November 1919.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

An eclectic mix of science-fiction-themed ephemera and other paraphernalia on display in the right-hand window of the historic, former C. Bubani haberdashery store off the Piazza del Popolo in Ravenna.
(Vincent Cavanagh © 2023)

Vincent Cavanagh
24 July 2026