In the space of just over a day, Pope Francis' arrival in Portugal has transformed the country, touched hearts and brought crowds together. As expected, the Holy Father's speeches and messages are among the most anticipated moments and those that most impact pilgrims. One of the points addressed by the Pope throughout his visit to Lisbon has been, as he has always mentioned, the call to care for the Common Home and concern for the environment, something that is seen in the encyclicals Fratelli Tutti and Laudato Si'.

The first time Pope Francis spoke in Lisbon, in the context of WYD, ecology once again did not go unnoticed. "The ocean reminds us that human existence is called to live in harmony with an environment greater than ourselves; this must be carefully guarded, taking into account the younger generations", the Holy Father said at the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) during the meeting with the President of the Republic, the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps on the first day of his visit to Portugal.

Also this morning, during the meeting with young people at the Catholic University of Portugal, the Pope again recalled the theme, agreeing with the testimony of some of the students, calling on everyone to recognize "the dramatic urgency of caring for our common home". "We cannot be satisfied with simple palliative measures or with timid and ambiguous commitments. In this case, the half-terms are only a small postponement of the oncoming collapse", he added. In the same message, he left young people with the hope that they are the protagonists of change: "You are the generation that can overcome this challenge: you have the most advanced scientific and technological tools, but please do not fall prey to partial visions. Do not forget that we need an integral ecology".

As a response of young people to these appeals, a Manifesto produced at the International Congress on the Care of Creation was handed to the Holy Father this morning. According to the Manifesto, it seeks "to attune our habits, our choices and our behaviors to the heartbeat of creation and of our brothers and sisters promise to attune ourselves to the heartbeat of God himself". 

Still responding to the Holy Father's calls related to Sustainability, WYD Lisbon 2023 also built on the pillars of the encyclicals written by His Holiness. One of the measures taken by the meeting was the creation of a carbon footprint calculator, developed by Novo Verde, a packaging waste management entity, and ERP Portugal, an electrical and electronic equipment waste management entity, as a way to mitigate the impact of WYD on the environment.

Do you want to find out the result of your carbon footprint and learn how to reduce it? To access this tool, simply download and register on the WYD Lisbon 2023 App, which also has a support manual for the pilgrim's carbon footprint calculator.