Pope Francis visited Portugal for the World Youth Day celebrations.

The pope’s dream

During a meeting with the authorities on August 2, the pope said:

“An economist was telling me a few days ago that the best investment income comes from the production of arms. We are investing more in arms than in the future of children. I dream of a Europe, the heart of the West, which employs its immense talents to settling conflicts and lighting lamps of hope; a Europe capable of recovering its youthful heart, looking to the greatness of the whole and beyond its immediate needs; a Europe inclusive of peoples and persons, together with their own cultures, without chasing after ideologies and forms of ideological colonisation. This helps bring us back to the dream of the founders of the European Union. They had a great dream!”

Room for everyone

During an address to young people on August 3, he said:

“There is room for everyone in the Church, the young and old, the healthy and the sick, the righteous and sinners: everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone! Everyone, everyone, everyone!” This is what I wanted to tell you. Don’t be afraid, have courage, go forward knowing that we are loved…”

‘Do not be afraid’

In his homily during the concluding mass on August 6, he said:

“Dear young people, I would like to look into the eyes of each one of you and say to you: Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. What is more, I tell you something very beautiful: It is no longer me, it is Jesus himself who is looking at you, at this moment. He is looking at us. He knows you, he knows the heart of each one of you, he knows the life of each one of you. He knows your joys, he knows your sorrows, your successes, and your failures. He knows your hearts, and he says to you today, here, in Lisbon, at this World Youth Day, ‘Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Take heart, do not be afraid.’”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)