Pope Francis will Travel to Portugal for World Youth Day and Visit Our Lady fo Fatima as Newly Announced by the Vatican
Pope Francis will travel to Lisbon and Fatima, Portugal, for World Youth Day in August, 2023.
He has accepted the invitation of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of Portugal. The Vatican announced today that the Pope Francis will return to the Sanctuary of Fatima during the Apostolic Journey he will make to Portugal this summer for the occasion of World Youth Day.
Matteo Bruni, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, made the official announcement in a statement on May 22nd:
"On the occasion of the next World Youth Day, and accepting the invitation of the civil and ecclesial authorities of Portugal, His Holiness Pope Francis will travel to Lisbon from 2-6 August of this year, making a visit to the Shrine of Fatima on 5 August."
This will be the second time that as Pope, the Holy Father will visit the Marian apparition site in Fatima, which is brings millions of pilgrims every year.
Previously, Pope Francis visited the Shrine, in May 2017, for the centenary of the Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria. On that occasion, the Pope prayed for an end to the wars in the world.
In Fatima, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three Portuguese children slightly more than 100 years ago, in what was then a poor farming village.
Lisbon hosts the 38th World Youth Day over which Pope Francis will preside, having done so for the WYDs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2013; Krakow, Poland, in 2016; and Panama City, Panama, in 2019.
For this year's WYD's motto, Pope Francis has chosen "Mary arose and went with haste" (Lk 1:39), the bible quote opening the account of the Visitation, when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth following the angel’s announcement to the Blessed Mother that she would be the mother of the Son of God.
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