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July 19, 2023
Abu Dhabi.
As the countdown for the XXXVIIth World Youth Day (WYD), which is scheduled to happen in Lisbon, Portugal from 1-6 August 2023 has begun, young pilgrims from the Apostolic Vicariate of Sothern Arabia are preparing to begin the pilgrimage. Pope Francis has chosen a quote from the Gospel of Luke as the theme of this year’s WYD: "Mary arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39).
Logo for World Youth Day 2023
The pilgrims from the Vicariate (AVOSA) will be joined by a group of ten-member clergy which includes His Excellency Bishop Paolo Martinelli, the Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, and Bishop Emeritus Paul Hinder.
Around 255 people from across the Vicariate will be participating in the much-awaited youth festival in which millions of young people from all over the world will be taking part.Young pilgrims from the different parishes in the UAE and Oman will be journeying as two groups. They include 62 people from St. Mary’s Dubai, 28 from St. Joseph’s Abu Dhabi, 38 from St. Mary’s Al Ain and the rest from other parishes. There are around 22 pilgrims set to leave representing Oman in the World Youth Day, Lisbon.
During the past months, different levels of formation have been given to the pilgrims in preparation for the festival, the final level was held in Abu Dhabi from 30 June - 1 July 2023. Bishop Martinelli celebrated a special mass for blessing the pilgrims in Abu Dhabi on 1 July 2023.
In his homily during the celebration of the Mass, the Bishop invited the young people to, “discover your vocation to carry out the mission for which God has willed you in this world and this part of the earth”. “I ask you to participate in the pilgrimage”, the Bishop said, “by keeping your hearts open to the voice of God, as Mary was able to do”.
Instituted by Pope John Paul II in 1985, World Youth Day is a gathering of young people around the world with the pope to experience God and feel accompanied by the Church.
The Holy Father Pope Francis has assured his presence at the WYD in Lisbon from 2-6 August. He will be celebrating a Holy Mass on the last day of the festival. In his message for the WYD2023, the Pope urges the young people to “rediscover in Lisbon – with God’s help – the joy of a fraternal embrace between peoples and generations, an embrace of reconciliation and peace, an embrace of new missionary fraternity”.
In a recent video message by the Holy Father released on 22 June 2023, addressing the youth who are "preparing to go to Lisbon" and those who "will accompany WYD from a distance," he has asked to "think, feel and do” - "with all your lives" and with the three languages of life: "the language of the head, the language of the heart, and the language of the hands".