Yesterday, the 27th of July, was the reserved day for the Missionary Gesture, one of the challenges from the World Youth Day (WYD) Lisbon 2023. The Team Leaders and the Volunteers visited institutions in the Dioceses of Santarém, Setúbal and Lisbon, to bring the joy of God to the most vulnerable ones.

More than 600 institutions were visited: nursing homes, drug dependence centers, hospitals, prisons, and centers for people with disabilities. One of the institutions that received this initiative was Assistência Paroquial dos Santos-o-Velho

During the day, Portuguese Volunteers and from all over the world spent time with the residents and announced the world’s biggest youth gathering with the Pope. “Every people we visited reminded me of my grandparents and it’s so good to see that they are still young inside, we can connect with them”, shared a volunteer from Ukraine. “I loved the stories, and the life’s experiences they shared with the volunteers”, she added. According to a volunteer that participated in the Missionary Gesture, “this was one of the most remarkable days from every WYD edition I experienced.”

One of the goals from the Missionary Gesture was that every volunteer should bring, to the World Youth Day (WYD) Lisbon 2023, a bracelet with the name of one of the people from the institution. Adesinda, a resident from the nursing home, was very grateful and happy “because if I was able to go, I would go see the Pope”.

The union between the youth and the seniors brought a lot of joy, there were a lot of dynamics and prayer moments. “I didn’t expect anything like this”, “it’s been a long time since we had young people here, it reminds me of the old times”, commented some residents.

The feeling that the day “was well spent, with a lot of message and love” stayed and, for Maria José Aguilar, the nursing home animator, this activity “was great for the elderly, they loved it and smiled”. “When they challenged us, we accepted right away without any doubts. This

youth’s generation contacting with the elderly is fundamental”, referred Francisca Calheiros, the institution’s coordinator.