The WYD experience from different points of view
During the first week of August, all attention was for Lisbon and the World Youth Day (WYD), which gathered together young people from all over the world in a meeting of faith, union and fraternity. United by WYD, thousands of pilgrims took different ways to participate in this meeting, which was at the same time experienced through different points of view.
From the Sanctuary of Pontmain, in northwest France, Ignace, a young man from Amiens, set off on his bicycle on July 14th with a group of four friends towards the “city of dreams”, where they arrived on July 30th. The young people traveled around 80 and 150 kilometers per day and in Fátima, they made the connection between the two Sanctuaries. "It's great to meet people from all over the world with the same purpose: to see the Pope and pray together", highlighted the young man, who explained that "he wanted to meet people while praying" and that "riding the bike there is a spirit of pilgrimage and encounter". According to Ignace, the most important aspect of this experience is the contact with people. “What I like most is meeting people, Spanish and Portuguese people are very friendly”. The young man added that “the most beautiful thing was the encounters we have had, the simplicity. They didn't ask us for anything but at the same time gave us everything. We had 8 euros per each day and we keep food with us, as well.”
Despite the difficulties along the way, Ignace stressed that “asking for help and meeting people is the best thing in life”. “Don't hesitate to leave like that […], because people seem happy to help”.
Gregosits Gabor, a Hungarian translator of 45 years old, lived the WYD experience under the eyes of a volunteer in his third time serving on a WYD. In Gregosits’s country “only 38% of the population is Catholic and approximately 7% and 10% practice their catholic faith”. In the case of this volunteer, it was his grandfather who passed on his faith in the Catholic Church. About WYD Lisbon 2023, the volunteer reinforced that this “was a good experience to meet young people from different continents” and added that he ”like the hospitality of the Portuguese people and how impressive was to pray the Rosary every day".
Claudine, from Burundi, was also a volunteer at WYD Lisbon 2023. For the young woman this was her first WYD. “Jesus surprised me by allowing me to join the WYD. It's my first one. I've wanted to participate for a long time, but I've never had the time or the means to make it happen", she said. For the volunteer, what benefited her the most of the WYD was “Meeting with different people, from different cultures. It is a human adventure that allows us to change our habits and start walking towards the encounter of Jesus through the encounter with others.” Claudine added: “For me, participating in the WYD as a volunteer and not as a pilgrim is a way of saying thank you to Jesus.”
Finally, the testimony of two people who didn’t know that the WYD was taking place until the meeting took over the streets of Lisbon. Laurie and Olivier, a French couple who were passing through Lisbon when they were surprised by the WYD. “As French tourists on holiday in Lisbon, we "stumbled" on the WYD. We were pleased that everywhere pilgrims filled the streets, transportation means and neighborhoods with songs and cheerful attitude”, they said. The couple mentioned that “it was incredible to see the amount of countries gathered with this environment, it was beautiful to see!”. Laurie and Olivier remarked about a night out in the company of French pilgrims and some other young people from different nationalities, from which they remembered the most was “the songs, the fraternity and the good spirit of everyone.”