An estimated 1.5 million young people filled a field in the Portuguese capital Lisbon for Pope Francis’ World Youth Day vigil.
Key points:
- Pilgrims arrived on foot from all around the city and braved temperatures of up to 40C
- An estimated 1.5 million youths attended the vigil and 200,000 continued to Fatima
- Pope Francis ditched his speech for a silent prayer in Fatima but kept Ukraine and Russia in mind
The crowd braved the scorching heat to secure a spot for the evening prayer and to camp out overnight for Pope Francis’s final farewell Mass.
The pope made only brief remarks before them, however, and ditched his prepared speech for the fourth time in two days.
Instead, the 86-year-old pontiff delivered a lively, 10-minute off-the-cuff chat in his native Spanish about journeying together and helping one another.
“No fear, thanks, ciao!” he said at the end.
Pilgrims embraced the intense weather
Temperatures had soared to 38 degrees Celsius in Lisbon and were forecast to top 40C.
The heat forced pilgrims to shelter under umbrellas and makeshift shades of plastic canvas sheets tied between trash bins in the otherwise exposed field on the edge of the River Tagus.
Crews blew misters at the pilgrims to try to cool them down as they made their way into the venue at the peak of the day’s heat, many flying their national flags.
They formed long lines to fill water bottles from what organisers said were more than 400 faucets around the field.
Smoke from a spate of wildfires that broke out around Portugal during a weekend spike in temperatures cast a haze over the sky.
Pilgrims arrived on foot from all around the city for one of the liturgical highlights of the Catholic youth festival.
Lan Young Modesta Cheong, a pilgrim from South Korea, said the heat was bad but her group made use of the trash bins to create shade.
“At first, we were not so comfortable with it because is dirty and smelly, but at a certain point, it became our tent,” said Ms Cheong.
“It’s kind of a miracle and for me, it is about[sic] the spirit of World Youth Day.
“We started using a useless dirty thing to support us and use it to avoid the heat and all these difficulties.”
Speech traded for a silent prayer
Pope Francis presided over the evening vigil after spending the morning at the Catholic shrine in Fatima.
There, he ditched his prepared speech and a prayer for peace.
The prayer had been expected to be a highlight of Francis’ visit to Fatima, given the shrine’s century-old affiliation with exhortations of peace and conversion in Russia and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The pope instead “prayed silently for peace, with pain,” while meditating for a long period before a statue of the Virgin Mary, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.
And the Vatican later posted the prayer on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pilgrims followed the pope to Fatima
An estimated 200,000 people turned out for Pope Francis’ visit to Fatima, packing the central esplanade long before the red-tinted moon set and the sun rose.
Nearby wildfires turned the sky smoky black and sent ash snowing down on the crowd.
“We are here with great joy,” said Maria Florido, a 24-year-old Spaniard who also saw the pope in Lisbon.
She said, “We woke up very early to come here and see the pope … and we’re here with great enthusiasm.”
Russia and Ukraine not forgotten
Vatican Media had said before the trip that Pope Francis would pray for peace in Ukraine and the world while in Fatima.
It seemed logical, given Francis had already consecrated both Russia and Ukraine to Mary in a prayer for peace following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, essentially fulfilling Sr. Lucia’s exhortation.
In the prayer, Francis didn’t name either country but consecrated the church and world, “especially those countries at war,” to Mary.
“Open paths where it seems that none exist,” he wrote.
“Loosen the tangles of self-centeredness and the snares of power.”
On the other hand, Fatima Bishop Jose Ornelas made a prayer for Ukraine explicit in his remarks.
“We associate ourselves to Your Holiness’ prayer for peace, for which this sanctuary is profoundly identified, thinking in particular of the war in Ukraine and so many other conflicts in the world,” he said.
Improvised speech not health-related
In explaining the changes, Vatican spokesman Bruni said Pope Francis “always addresses firstly the people he meets, as a shepherd, and speaks accordingly.”
The pope often deviates from his prepared remarks, even more when speaking in his native Spanish.
Bruni denied the changes had any other serious reason, including with his eyesight.
Francis has been hospitalised twice this year, including in June when he spent nine days in the hospital recovering from abdominal surgery to repair a hernia and remove scar tissue on his intestine.
Saturday was perhaps the most grueling day of his five-day visit to Portugal, given the round-trip helicopter ride to Fatima and a planned prayer vigil that didn’t begin until his usual bedtime in Rome.
AP/ABC