YOUNG Filipinos set to participate in the World Youth Day 2023 are expected to arrive in Lisbon, Portugal tomorrow ahead of the start of the festivities on August 1.
In an interview last Friday, CBCP – Episcopal Commission on Youth (ECY) Executive Secretary Fr. Ramon Jade Licuanan said the 270-man Philippine delegation will be leaving in batches but are all expected to be in Portugal by Tuesday.
“The CBCP-ECY delegation will be leaving in several batches with the first group, where I am included, will leave on July 23, while the last trip is on July 24. There are also flights in between,” said Licuanan, adding the delegates will be staying with their 17 host dioceses.
“All the dioceses in Portugal shall be accommodating pilgrims from north to south,” said Licuanan.
The CBCP-ECY said their delegation to the 37th World Youth Day totals to only 270 due to the lower number of applicants.
The World Youth Day 2023 will be held in Lisbon, Portugal from August 1 to 6, 2023 with Pope Francis set to lead the attendees.
Licuanan said majority of the delegation are scheduled to return to Manila immediately after the final mass of Pope Francis on August 6 but the CBCP-ECY members will stay until August 7 to undergo re-entry program.
“It’s a time where we will have some sharing, and prepare oneself for re-entry,” said Licuanan.
During the send-off Mass for the World Youth Day delegates of the Archdiocese of Manila, Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jose Advincula urged the youth to learn the value of forgiveness.
“We are not able to live life to the fullest when we hold on to guilt and grudges. When we are weighed down by our faults or are overcome by the desire for vengeance, we succumb to the slavery of death and become agents of death ourselves,” he said.
