On Wednesday afternoon, 2 Aug, after we visited the Church of St Roch we came to the Church of Our Lady of the Incarnation (Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Encarnação). This church resides in the ‘little Italy’ area of Lisbon a.k.a. the Chiado district.

This church was built in the very early 18th century, and then destroyed by the 1755 earthquake. To rebuild it took a process of over a hundred years. That’s why you can see a lot of baroque and neo-classical elements in it.
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Confusingly it is across the road from the Church of Our Lady of Loreto of the Italians, and they have similarities in interior shape and in interior appearance.

We listened for a short while to a music recital in this church. It was only after we came in that we realised a concert was going on. If you look past the left-hand shoulder of the pilgrim with the red t-shirt, you will see the choir.

A closer view of the amazing tabernacle. Below it is an ornate statue of the Virgin Mary, and a little lower you can see the six candles with the Cross in the middle that signifies an altar. It looks like you could put a monstrance in the upper part of that tabernacle structure. In this photo the choir is more obvious.

On the ceiling is an ornate painting of the Incarnation, with the Archangel Gabriel before Mary – who is in a kneeling position -and with the overshadowing rays of the Holy Spirit depicted coming forth from a white dove above Mary.
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From here our small group of explorers walked down to the river’s edge. On the other bank of the river can be seen the large statue of Christ the Redeemer with His arms outstretched. The statue is on top of a massive plinth structure. Then we found some dinner, and returned to the hotel after dark.


Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
#wydlisbon   #wyd2023   #lisboa2023
2 Aug 2023, 8.31pm Portugal | 3 Aug 2023, 5.31am Sydney

Before our pilgrimage path takes us away from the city of Lisbon and out to the riverside park where the vigil and closing Mass for WYD was held, I want to back track to Wednesday afternoon.

After the very late night and early morning, following the first session of catechesis the next order of business was a siesta. Then with Oliver and a few others we went on an expedition, south of our hotel, to look at some of the older churches nearer to the river, and also find some dinner.

The two towers of the façade of Lisbon Cathedral are just visible against the Tagus River.
​This view is from Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara observation deck opposite the Convento de São Pedro de Alcântara, Lisbon, Portugal.

Our first stop was the Church of St Roch, it is one of the earliest Jesuit churches in the world. In the early 16th century Lisbon experienced plague, and this site was the plague cemetery in that era. Because St Roch is known as the patron saint of plague victims, the then King of Portugal requested a relic of St Roch, and the people began to build a shrine - to display that relic for veneration and intercession- adjacent to the cemetery. It became a Jesuit church in 1553 until the Jesuits were expelled in 1759, when it became the headquarters of a charitable organisation known as the Holy House of Mercy.

Why St Roch? He lived in the 14th century and when his parents died, he decided to become a third order Franciscan and to undertake a pilgrimage to Rome depending upon the providence of God. When he reached Rome, he found an epidemic of plague and he set himself to helping the sick. People were cured when he prayed for them, made the sign of the Cross over them and touched them with his hand. For a while he became a hermit, continuing to live dependent upon God’s providence. Eventually he made his way home, and was arrested under suspicion of being a spy, and left to die in prison. When he died, a heavenly scroll was found, on it was written that God had granted to him his prayer: that whoever meekly invokes the intercession of St Roch shall not be hurt with any hurt of pestilence.

The top panel depicts Pentecost, the niche underneath it has crowned statues of Mary and Jesus. On either side, the four statues of men garbed in black represent St Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, and St Francis Xavier, St Aloysius Gonzaga and St Francis Borga, three very well-known Jesuit Saints. St Aloysius Gonzaga is likely the one on the top right because he died aged 23.

This elaborate ceiling was painted in the 16th century; and is actually a flat surface but painted on wooden panels to give the illusion that there is a barrel-vaulted roof with three domes. Even the mother house of the Jesuits, the Gesu in Rome, has a ceiling painted in this illusionist style.

This icon was on display on the left-hand side of the sanctuary area of the church. It is a colourful rendition of the more somber version carried with the World Youth Day Cross, and likewise a more somber version of the original in Rome.

The six candles with the crucifix in the middle denote that they are sitting on an altar below the line of sight of the photo. Above is a quite extraordinary collection of the relics of saints, obviously Jesuit martyrs since the church was active during a time of missionary expansion across the world, but also other saints from Europe. Such a collection would take several centuries to gather. The majority of these relics have official papal documentation of authenticity.

This photo was taken in the Chapel of the Holy Family. Behind the statues - and quite difficult to see properly - is a depiction of the young Jesus among the doctors of the Law. The statues show the Holy Family in standing position, and Jesus as a pre-adolescent boy and not as a baby.


Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
#wydlisbon   #wyd2023   #lisboa2023
2 Aug 2023, 8.28pm Portugal | 3 Aug 2023, 5.28am Sydney

Since Pope Francis’ arrival on Thursday, every major venue we go to from now on, requires us to go through a security checkpoint before entering the major venue.

Here’s our sightscreen view of Pope Francis’ arrival on stage, which marked the beginning of the Way of the Cross. Another name for this is Stations of the Cross. These 14 stations mark the journey of Jesus from being sentenced to death on the Cross, to His burial in the tomb. Sometimes a 15th Station of the Resurrection is added. With the traditional Way of the Cross, three falls along the path to Calvary are marked, at the 3rd, 7th and 9th Stations. After each fall, Jesus gets up again and continues to the top of the hill of Calvary.
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At each Station there is usually a meditation on what happened at that Station, some expected response from those gathered, for example an Our Father a.k.a. the Lord’s Prayer, and, when prayed in public, usually a stanza from the Stabat Mater, either said or sung, in between each Station. The Stabat Mater is a 13th century poem about the sorrows of Mary, mother of Jesus, at the Cross of her Son.

To return to our hotel, we go down this street and take the first right hand turn. You can see from this photo just how full this side street is of pilgrims. This street is perpendicular to Edward VII Park, which looks like a long-sided rectangle from above. showing the third testimony of faith

After each of the three Stations that mark a fall of Jesus on his way to crucifixion, there was a personal testimony from a pilgrim. The person in the photo gave the third testimony after the 9th Station of the Cross.

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My reflection upon the Way of the Cross at WYD:

The Way of the Cross yesterday was certainly not what I was expecting.

It was interpretive breakdancing upon the whole of the altar-stage in Eduardo VII Park. Lisbon of course being a home of breakdancing.
 
Radios were made virtually redundant by how loud the speakers made the announcements of the Stations, coupled with how the orchestra blended into those same announcements. Irrespective of language, the volume all but drowned out any radio translation, with or without headphones.
 
Although we had a good position next to the Marquês de Pombal Monument, we were behind two sets of loudspeaker arrays. Hardly the best position for receiving clear audio.
 
The Vatican's Facebook page was doing a Facebook LIVE video feed, but this was comparatively more delayed than what was being shown on the large sight screens.
 
For example, we could see the Cross (when it wasn't obscured by a tree) being moved across the WYD stage in the distance before the video feed we’d got showed them starting to move it.
 
O the joys, and pains, of long-distance telecommunications. Continue to pray for all those who are constantly working to keep these things up and running so that we can see anything, delayed or not.
 
In the end, for our Australian group at least, we ended up using guess work and a Stations of the Cross card to try and figure out where we were up to when we couldn't hear the Station number.
 
But we could tell when Jesus fell under the Cross three times. There were short, pre-recorded video testimonials of faith and turning back in openness to our Heavenly Father. Thankfully all of them were subtitled, even the last one which was by an American Catholic (USA).

At the end of each testimonial the video feed cut to show each person sitting in the crowd, up close to the stage. All of them were caught by surprise when they saw themselves on the big screens.
 
In the midst of all this whirling soundscape of orchestra, dance beats, and Station intentions being read out in multiple different languages, there was a moment to just look around you and truly take in just how massive this all is.

The street behind us was filled up back across two, if not three, street intersections.
 
St John Paul II was right in saying that WYD is not so much saying that the church is for young people as telling, and showing, them, "You are not alone."
​
From memory, the experience of the Stations of the Cross at WYD Sydney in 2008 was good if you were in front of the stage or watching it on television. But the experience was very similar to mine if you didn’t have the combination of a good view of the sight screen and good audio.

Look for a sightscreen shape, on the right-hand side near the tree line, then look for the long part of the Cross at a 45 degree angle with blue sky on both sides of it. The horizontal beam of the Cross is barely visible behind the screen logo. The close-up camera angles were probably wonderfully dramatic for those watching at home, but they made what was going on near incomprehensible to us.

There were still a lot of people milling around, possibly waiting for a clearer path to wherever they were off to next. Some would have gone looking for dinner, some would have gone back to their hotels for a rest, and quite a lot of them went to a big ecumenical concert at a stadium where Matt Maher – the Canadian musician-composer – was performing his music, and at which Bishop Barron – founder of Word on Fire, Catholic media organisation – was due to speak.

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Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
#wydlisbon   #wyd2023   #lisboa2023
5 Aug 2023, 11.23am Portugal | 5 Aug 2023, 6.23pm Sydney

After Friday Catechesis and before the Stations of the Cross, a few of us had a mini adventure. Together with Oliver and Bettina, we hiked up 7 or 8 sets of steps to see the Church of Our Lady of Grace, also known as Igreja Paroquial da Graça, or as the parish church of the Graça area.

There has been a church here since the 13th century, and because we had to climb so high, there are views over the city. For over 560 years, this place was the home of the hermit friars of the Order of St Augustine. It suffered damage during the 1755 earthquake, and that’s why there’s some Baroque and Rococo elements mixed up with the medieval elements. We didn’t get to stay there very long, because some kind of Ukrainian gathering or catechesis had been going on, and the tone of whatever the speaker was saying felt uncomfortable.

After that we walked down to where relics of St Therese of Lisieux were on display at the Church of St. Louis of the French. Because Mass was about to begin, there was only time to kneel, make the sign of the cross, and pray a Hail Mary and leave. That’s also why there’s only an exterior photo and no interior photo.
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But outside there was a team of parishioners or volunteers, who were re-filling the water bottles of pilgrims. We gratefully accepted their kindness. They were under the white canopy on the far left-hand side of the photo. May God bless them.

On our way back to the hotel we were caught by ‘the welcomers’ of the Church of St Joseph (Igreja de São José) that housed relics of St Thomas Aquinas and of St Mary Magdalene for the duration of World Youth Day. To get in we needed to go through an entrance door off a courtyard that couldn’t be seen from the street.

The altar piece between the two sets of double columns depicts the betrothal of Mary to Joseph.
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The relic of the skull, only the skull and no jawbone, of St Thomas Aquinas could be seen on the maroon velvet close to the altar. The reliquary holding his skull is new, in honour of the 700th anniversary of his canonization earlier this year. While an icon of St Mary Magdalene was visible; however, where the relic was placed we couldn’t see. Apparently it was a piece of tibia which normally resides at her shrine at Sainte-Baume in France. As you can see, the place was both cramped and crowded, so it was another short kneel, sign of the Cross, simple prayer and back out again. It really wasn’t how I would have wanted to see the relics of these important Saints, but such is life, or should I say, such is World Youth Day.

It was Friday, so our meal options had to be meat-less. Because each Friday is a mini-memorial of Good Friday, some small act of penance in union with the great sacrifice of Jesus is right and just, and the traditional way of doing that is eating meat-less. So we tried takeaway from a vegetarian Tibetan restaurant (Os Tibetanos). Who would have thought such a place would be in down-town Lisbon?
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On the door-posts you can see the World Youth Day logo which indicates that this eatery serves Pilgrim meals.

It was some kind of bean stew, with rice, and with something pickled – maybe a sprout or similar. But it was nice and warm. Thus fortified we went back to the hotel to prepare for the Stations of the Cross.
 
 
Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
#wydlisbon   #wyd2023   #lisboa2023
5 Aug 2023, 11.43am Portugal | 5 Aug 2023, 6.43pm Sydney

The third and last session of catechesis, otherwise known as Rise-Up 3, on Friday 4 August, was thankfully held in a church. And not just any church, the Coléginho de Santo-Antão-o-Velho, a.k.a. College chapel of St Anthony, was the first Jesuit church in the world. St Francis Xavier spent 6 months here before going out on his missionary voyages to India and other places in Asia.

The college operated from 1553 until the Jesuits were expelled from Portugal in 1759 by none other than the statesman/diplomat whose bronze image with the lion adorns the big pillar in the huge roundabout next to the park where all the big WYD events happen, except for the vigil and the Closing Mass.
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While the Jesuits were there, this college was the first free educational institution in Portugal, and "all qualified children who knew how to read and write and were willing to go to confession once a month could attend the College without further conditions."

The theme for this catechesis session was Mercy. To teach us that morning, we were given the bishop of Dallas, in Texas, Bishop Edward ‘Ed’ Burns. He won our hearts.

Because we had a roof, chapel-specific audio, and pews, it was easy both to hear him, and to take notes.
 
He began his catechesis by returning to when he was a newly ordained priest, in the parish of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, 40 years and 40 lbs ago.
(At which the whole church erupted in laughter with him.)
 
A priest who used to minister to the nearby prison moved on from the parish, and in the hubbub of celebrations the ministry to the prisoners was forgotten. It took a prisoner making a formal complaint that his religious rights were not being met to remind the parish and Diocese of their responsibility.
 
When the other priests made arguments for why they couldn't go and do it, the then, Fr Ed Burns willingly put himself forward, and said, "I'm here, I'll do it." (my paraphrase)
 
And so he went and introduced himself to the prison governor, a man who only expected this new priest to "show the collar around", shake hands and say hello.

Fr Ed said he'd like to start a bible study, have Eucharist with the inmates, and Reconciliation. That last word was foreign to the governor until the guard in the room with them both, a lapsed Catholic like the governor, translated: "He means Confession."
 
The governor responded, "These prisoners aren't going to want confession, Padre. This is the County Jail. They've not gone to court yet! If you start mentioning 'confession', they'll think you're working for the D.A!" (District Attorney, the prosecution team)
 
To the incredulity of the governor, the Lord God provided 18 prisoners seeking Confession to Fr Ed who readily wrote down their names as proof to the governor.
 
Bishop Ed has what he calls "a handkerchief ministry."

When in confession, he hands out his handkerchief whenever the tears start flowing. That’s what happened in that prison to a huge burly mountain of a man who came in and confessed every ill deed he had ever done.

When the man tried to give back the handkerchief, Fr Ed said, "Trust me. It's yours!"
 
Later, the cellmate of the burly man came up to Fr Ed asking about confession. The burly man had been still crying after his reconciliation; and had placed the handkerchief upon a cross on the cell wall.
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When the cell mate asked him what it was about, the burly man told how to him it was a symbol of the forgiveness he had received through reconciliation.
 
Bishop Ed said that this burly tough guy was giving testimony of healing to his fellow prisoner - a testimony of healing through the gift of reconciliation. A gift that we are all called to receive, and to then go and tell to others what God has done for us through reconciling with Him.
 
(Then we went into a time of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, and then time for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, followed by time for healing ministry – if desired.)

In his homily during Mass, Bishop Ed told us “That confusing moments always come. Keep searching for Jesus, as Mary Magdalene kept searching for Him when she found His tomb empty”.

Bishop Ed encouraged us to be still and listen, in order to awaken the realization of God’s presence, and to then go awaken your mission to speak of His presence to others.

Do you remember those taxi rides in Assisi? This seems a good time to share a story Bishop Randazzo told us while we were waiting for one of those taxis.

He mentioned that we (the Church members as a whole) tend to overcomplicate the message of evangelisation. It’s good to read up and understand our faith, but evangelisation is more often than not something simple. As an example, he told us that one of our tour guides in Florence was ‘evangelised’ by us saying the Angelus in front of an icon of Mary and Jesus. Afterwards the tour guide walked up to Bishop Anthony and thanked him because the guide had never noticed the wall shrine/s above the shop fronts.
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The Angelus is a prayer, often said at noon, to remember the visit of the Angel Gabriel, and Mary’s Yes, and the incarnation of Jesus in her womb. Before each of the three Hail Mary’s there is a brief responsory based on Gospel passages, and then a closing prayer. It takes about 3 minutes to pray.

There were many other beautiful artworks in this college chapel, but this one seems appropriate to share; since after World Youth Day finishes on Sunday we will spend a few days in Fátima from Monday before beginning the long journey home.


Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
#wydlisbon   #wyd2023   #lisboa2023
4 Aug 2023, 2.39pm Portugal | 4 Aug 2023, 9.39pm Sydney

We’ve pegged out our spot for the Welcoming Ceremony.

Walking to our spot for the Welcome

Look at them go; they’re on a mission from God.

On his journey around the crowds before reaching the main WYD stage.
There was a sense of peace, something like a cloud of peace, around Pope Francis as he was driven around the crowd of pilgrims.

What we can see on the sightscreen as Pope Francis gives his address to the crowd of pilgrims. Certainly, look out for the transcript of this address, it was very good.

Here’s a paragraph from the English translation of his address (1 pm, 4 Aug); only the Spanish translation was available this morning (1 am, 4 Aug). God bless all those working as translators for us.
​
“You are not here by accident. The Lord has called you, not only in these days, but from the very beginning of your days. He called you by name. Let us listen to the Word of God that called us by name. Try to imagine these three words written in large letters. Then consider that they were written within you, on your hearts, as if setting the direction of your lives, the meaning of who you are: you have been called by name. Each of us is called by name. You, you and you, all of us here, myself included: all of us have been called by name. Not impersonally, but by name. Think of this: Jesus called me by name. His words are inscribed in our hearts, and we come to realize that they are written in the hearts of every one of us, as a kind of title that tells people who we are, who you are. You have been called by name. None of us is a Christian by chance; all of us were called by name. At the beginning of the story of our lives, before any talents we may have, before any shadows or wounds we may be carrying in our hearts, we were called. Why? Because we are loved. This is something beautiful. In God’s eyes, we are precious children, and He calls us each day in order to embrace and encourage us, to make of us a unique and original masterpiece. Each of us is an “original”, whose beauty we can only begin to glimpse.”

Everyone sitting down and actually listening.
His address definitely touched hearts.
What I remember most is: ‘God loves you as you are, not as you think you should be (in order to be loved/loveable)’

We won’t see him again until the Stations of the Cross, tomorrow night, and at the Saturday night vigil, and at the Closing Mass on Sunday. On Saturday morning, Pope Francis is visiting Fátima and spending time with young people who live with illness.


Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
#wydlisbon   #wyd2023   #lisboa2023
3 Aug 2023, 8.10pm Portugal | 4 Aug 2023, 5.10am Sydney

​We caught the Metro to a different station, but we ended up in the same park as yesterday for the second session of Catechesis. To be honest, my heart dropped a bit when I saw we were back in the same field again. The topic for today is Social Friendships. All the catechesis locations are covering the same topic. Some clergy have been feeling ill with flu symptoms, including Fr Sam and Bishop Umbers. So there’s been some scrambling to fill the catechesis speaking slots.
 
Run Order for Rise-Up session 2:

These run orders have helped us know what to expect. I should have uploaded yesterday’s run order, but it’s too late now. Because this WYD has tried to be as paperless as possible, most information comes to us from the official app. But I would have preferred a souvenir booklet with maps and schedules in it.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher is the Archbishop of Sydney. As an auxiliary bishop of Sydney for WYD 2008, he together with Cardinal George Pell and the then auxiliary bishop Julian Porteous, were the episcopal team that made WYD Sydney happen.

He was talking too fast for me to jot down notes easily, but this is what I jotted:

‘Whatever your position is, someone is looking for an ecclesial brawl with you, and maybe with you as well – and you with them.’

‘Hell is both the failure to love (Dostoevsky – 19th century Russian writer) and to be loved (Charles M Schultz – Charlie Brown Comics)’ – only a summary.
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‘Now may this WYD make you all great and Godly lovers, every one of you’.

​Mass was held in the same location as the Catechesis. The Archbishop Fisher presided.

From the Archbishop’s homily:
‘Our God is no God of Separation: He is a God of Closeness.’


Other Information
We’ve been told to expect a 4 hour walk to the Vigil Site on Saturday, including rest stops. It’s also been recommended that we go shopping for snacks, and especially Hydralyte tablets. These tablets are supposed to ease dehydration symptoms.

Apart from the short time between the Australian Gathering and the Welcome Mass on Tuesday 1 Aug 2023 – when we visited two nearby churches - we haven’t had time to do any sight-seeing, visit the ‘City of Joy’ park, or anything in the city proper.

The City of Joy is where the Vocation Fair, a Chapel, and the Reconciliation Park are. In the city proper are movies, art galleries, talks, museums, relics, the cathedral where St Anthony of Padua was baptised and where relics of St Vincent of Saragossa – deacon and martyr – reside.
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Our catechesis locations have been away from the Lisbon CBD, and by the time we get back, we hunt for lunch, have a brief rest, and then stake out positions for the next visual of Pope Francis or next major event.
 
 
Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
#wydlisbon   #wyd2023   #lisboa2023
3 Aug 2023, 2.17pm Portugal | 3 Aug 2023, 11.17pm Sydney

Fr Aldrin, chaplain of the white bus, with our direct-to-Portugal pilgrims, joined our location for the Welcome Mass.
We had a reasonably good position because an advance team had gone ahead and picked out a location for the Broken Bay pilgrims to occupy.

Sydney’s Catholic Weekly published a column by Monica Doumit on 3 Aug 2023, with her reflections on the long-term fruit of her own World Youth Day experiences. In it she writes “I am suffering from some serious fear-of-missing-out right now….but I really don’t really want to be dragging my luggage in high summer heat, and that Masses with a congregation of millions of young people present are not the most conducive to my prayer life, but there is just something so wonderful about WYD that makes me want to be part of it.”

I do agree with Monica Doumit’s experience of most, if not all, WYD liturgies not being places for deep prayer. The audio where we were for this Mass wasn’t wonderful, and thankfully it was improved just as the Mass began. Sadly all I got were small moments of participation at the Welcome Mass. Everything else is the crush of people, the heat, noise of music, and trying not to lose the group when walking to Holy Communion.

What I remember most is the Gloria being sung very well.

The archbishop of the WYD location always presides at the Welcome Mass. On screen here is the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, Archbishop Manuel Clemente, also known as Manuel III because he’s the third Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon with that name. Since he turned age 75 about a fortnight before WYD began, in some ways this is the big finale to his active priesthood.

WYD Catechesis – Rise Up #1: 'Integral Ecology'.
​The open-air location is Parque Urbano da Quinta da Granja. It is a pleasant enough place, and one of the biggest places for English Language catechesis, hosting some 10k pilgrims. The catechesis sessions are known at this WYD as ‘Rise-Up’. That’s a play of words on the theme for this WYD based on Luke 1:39 ‘Mary rose and went with haste’. However after having had all the events of yesterday under the hot sun, and getting sunburnt arms, an undercover location would have been more welcome.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley o.f.m. from Boston, USA, was our catechist for the morning. Apparently he’s been to something like 11 World Youth Days. Most of the pilgrims here are from the USA, although there are some Italian, Scottish and Mexican flags to be seen. It was rather difficult to keep track of what the Cardinal was saying, so much so, that some pilgrims gave up and quietly said the Rosary instead. Using loudspeakers instead of using a radio broadcast didn’t help.

The topic for this morning was 'Ecology'. But I only caught snippets of it. I know that it started with his grandfather buying a large black and white TV, and a TV show called The Millionaire (USA). I wanted to pay attention, but it was a struggle to focus. What I did glean was this:

From the end of the Marriage Ceremony in Spanish: ‘I am giving you a companion, not a slave. Love her as Christ loves the Church.’
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‘We become so fascinated by the gift that we forget the giver (God).’
 
 
Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
#wydlisbon   #wyd2023   #lisboa2023
3 Aug 2023, 8.21am Portugal | 3 Aug 2023, 5.21pm Sydney

​This began at 3pm Lisbon time, 1 Aug 2023, at Parque da Quinta das Conchas e dos Lilases. It is the third largest public park in Lisbon, and originally the land belonged to two farms (quintas), one called ‘the Conchas’ and the other called ‘the Lilases’. To get there, we needed to travel by Lisbon Metro. Perhaps the reason this location was chosen, apart from its ability to host over 3000 pilgrims, is the presence of some eucalyptus trees that have been planted there.

As you can see, many of our pilgrims have come prepared with Australian flags and anything else uniquely Australian. We thought getting from the hotel to the Metro was going to be a rather simple process, until we came across the vehicle and pedestrian barriers that are part and parcel of crowd control at WYD. Eventually we found a route.
 
At the Metro

Lisbon has several public transport options, metro, train, lift and bus. There are four lifts, with one vertical, and the rest what we would call funicular or cable cars. With the Metro there are four routes, each colour coded red, blue, yellow or green. They might drive on the wrong side of the road, but they drive on the correct side of the rails.

While we waited for the official parts of the Australian Gathering to begin, lots of catch-ups happened between friends and acquaintances from different dioceses. Apart from a pep talk, that’s what the Australian reunion is all about – reconnecting as an Australian family of believers and reducing any sense of isolation before facing the world. Eventually our bishops found a shady spot from which to view the stage. Maybe you can name the rest, but I can name only: bishop of Broken Bay, Archbishop Sydney, Archbishop Canberra-Goulburn, bishop of Wilcannia-Forbes, Auxiliary bishop of Sydney – Umbers (white baseball cap), Archbishop of Hobart.

It was Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green’s task to give us a homily, on the theme of Jesus saying, ‘Who do you say I am?’. After him, Archbishop Comensoli announced that the next ACYF – Australian Catholic Youth Festival – was to be held in Melbourne in 2025, and further that Pope Francis had agreed to visit it.
 
 
Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
#wydlisbon   #wyd2023   #lisboa2023
1 Aug 2023, 3.19pm Portugal | 2 Aug 2023, 12.19am Sydney

This quick group photo was taken on the plane at Lisbon airport, just after the plane had parked. That was a little before 11pm July 31st, 2023.

On arrival at the hotel, we received our World Youth Day pilgrim packs. The only real surprise was the colour of the t-shirt, which could be red or green. Thankfully XL-size seemed to be the t-shirt size most of us late-arrivals received. Part of our pilgrim group arrived on a morning flight.
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In the pilgrim pack are the backpack – which can be transformed into a carry-bag or handbag shape; t-shirt; lanyard; bucket hat; pilgrim credential; public transport pass; rosary beads; and water bottle.

I tried the bucket hat on that night - and decided that it was far too Gilligan’s Island for me. So I’ll continue with my Cancer Council Men’s Adventure Hat for the rest of the pilgrimage. The brim is better, it’s sturdier, and it has some UPF 50+ protection.

I’m several floors up, and sharing the room with Oliver, and this is the view from our Portugal hotel. Can you see the bronze statue of a standing man beside a lion that seems to be floating? It’s actually on a very high plinth between those buildings. That plinth is in the middle of a massive roundabout. While the statue is known as the Marques de Pombal, or Marquis of Pombal Square; it actually refers to Sebastiao Jose de Carvalho e Melo, an 18th century Portuguese statesman and diplomat who led the recovery effort after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
 
 
Vincent Cavanagh   #bbwyd
#wydlisbon   #wyd2023   #lisboa2023
1 Aug 2023, 8.46pm Portugal | 1 Aug 2023, 5.46pm Sydney