“WE ENTRUSTED OUR PARTICIPATION TO THE PRAYERS OF THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD” – pilgrims from Azerbaijan at the XXXVII World Youth Day in Portugal
“WE ENTRUSTED OUR PARTICIPATION TO THE PRAYERS OF THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD” – pilgrims from Azerbaijan at the XXXVII World Youth Day in Portugal
From the 1st to the 6th of August the capital of Portugal Lisbon hosted the World Youth Day.
World Youth Day is a major international event, annually held by the Church since 1986 in various capitals, large cities and Catholic pilgrimage centers of the world. This tradition was started by Pope John Paul II, inspired by the holidays of the Catholic youth in Rome in 1984.
The purpose of World Youth Day is to express the unity of the Church in Her diversity, the eternal youth of Christ and the relevance of the Gospel to each new generation. Also, World Youth Day is called upon to reveal the pilgrimage nature of the Christian way of life, as a joint journey of the Church – the People of God – to the Lord.
According to the established tradition, a central theme is chosen for each congress, expressed by an excerpt from the books of the New Testament. This year, the theme of World Youth Day was the lines from the Gospel of Luke: “And Mary arose in these days, and went with haste into the mountainous country, into the city of Judah” (Luke 1:39).
The main event of World Youth Day is the meeting of pilgrims with the Pope of Rome and joint prayers with the Holy Father.
Ulvi Sultanov, Liya Abdullayeva, Angelina Aliyeva and sister Slavka Butkova (FMA) took part in this year’s World Youth Day as representatives of the Catholic community of Azerbaijan/
Sharing their impressions with catholic.az, young delegates from Azerbaijan noted that on the very first day they visited the sanctuary in Fatima and entrusted their pilgrimage to the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“It was very exciting to see how a sea of pilgrims from more than 190 countries of the world greet the Holy Father,” our pilgrims noted among other things.
Pope Francis held several meetings with the participants of the World Youth Day, prayed the Way of the Cross and celebrated the Holy Masses with them. Calling on the youth to rediscover the beauty of the Gospel, the love of God and the healing power of the Cross, the Holy Father asked the youth to pray for peace on the last day of the convention.
“When you return home, continue to pray for peace. You are a sign of peace for the whole earth, evidence that different nationalities, languages and destinies can unite, not divide. You are the hope for another world. Thank you for this!” Pope Francis urged the young pilgrims.
