Saturday 29 July – Our Journey Begins
Excitement was in the air(port!). Maybe a little bit of nervousness as well, especially for our first-time travellers!! Very smooth flights, no delays, decent food, good length of time in Abu Dhabi to stretch legs. Not much sleep – was that more due to how uncomfortable planes are? Or were we too excited? Maybe a bit of both! Some pilgrims tried to get the whole plane to applaud the pilot on landing. It didn’t really catch on.
Sunday 30 July – Arrival in Lisbon
We landed in Lisbon around 7:30 a.m. so the whole day was ahead of us. Having cleared customs, many pilgrims made a beeline for Portuguese Tarts while we waited for the whole group to make it through. Definitely delicious and the first of many! Arriving at the Hotel, we were surprised to find most of the rooms ready for us already. A few had to wait a little longer, but everyone had their rooms sorted soon upon arrival; it meant pilgrims could get changed out of their travel clothes (some had a quick nap!) and get ready to go and say hello to Lisbon!
Pilgrims split up in groups and went to explore. Some made it to the river and found the amazing Arco da Rua Augusta (a Memorial Arch to commemorate the city’s reconstruction after the Earthquake in 1755); others headed straight to the shops to explore and stock up on water and snacks;and some managed to visit the beautiful Sé de Lisboa (Lisbon Cathedral) and a nearby church, Igreja de Santo Antonio de Lisboa (Church of St Anthony of Lisbon/Padua), which is either a Church built where he was born, or the Church in which he was baptised (competing stories but cool either way!).
Gathering back together in the evening, we joined together to celebrate Mass with Fr Jackson. Prior to beginning, every pilgrim offered up something they were grateful for, ensuring our celebration was full of Thanksgiving. Pilgrims were also invited to prayerfully set an intention, a hope, or a prayer for their own personal pilgrimage experience. With a specific space set aside for this in their Pilgrimage Journal, they were encouraged to refer back to this regularly to reflect on everything they were experiencing.
Mass was followed by a delicious Portuguese meal at a local restaurant. (The Octopus was delicious, although most played it safe with steak or pasta!) Pilgrims were eager for sleep in the evening with a big week ahead of us. Our final two pilgrims managed to join us late in the night, having already been in Europe for a week or so prior. Very happy to finally have us all together!
You can see photos of our highlights from each day of the pilgrimage on the Sandhurst Youth Social Media pages – both Instagram and Facebook. We encourage you to check them out!
Monday 31 July – Pilgrimage to Fatima
The Hotel had a delicious buffet breakfast with so many different options, pilgrims were spoilt for choice. This meant that we knew we would start every day with good food and would be well prepared for whatever came our way during the days ahead. Some stuck to bacon and eggs, while others were delighted to try all the Portuguese Breakfast Pastries and Cakes (including the delicious Portuguese Tart!). Trying the different food is all part of the cultural experience of WYD and some pilgrims embraced this wholeheartedly!
Getting on the bus for Fatima, our tour guide for the day was able to give us some fantastic insights into Lisbon, Fatima and Portugal in general. She was especially proud of how close the Airport was to the City and how easy the Public Transport system makes it for tourists and locals to get around the city – it’s only 20 mins on the train from the airport to the heart of Lisbon!
After a brief history lesson from Ruth about the events of Fatima, pilgrims joined together in praying the Rosary. Miggy, who regularly leads the Rosary online for St Kilian’s Parish, and Fiona, who had thoughtfully laminated some cards to assist everyone in praying together, led the pilgrims in prayer, offering thoughtful meditations on the Joyful Mysteries – particularly apt given the WYD theme focuses on Mary and the Visitation. For some pilgrims, it was their first time praying the Rosary and they took the time afterwards to ask questions of other pilgrims about what the Prayer means to them. For all the pilgrims, it provided a space to meditate on both the whole WYD pilgrimage and that day’s specific journey to Fatima and what they were hoping and praying for that day.
Arriving at the Shrine of Fatima, pilgrims were given their first glimpse of what WYD would be like – the Square was full of young people. Definitely not something we are used to seeing in Sandhurst Churches and events. This was possibly the moment that it started to sink in that there are many young Catholics around the world. A quick tour of the Shrine, particularly visiting the older of the two Basilicas, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary. This is where the three seers of Fatima, Sts Jacinta and Francisco, as well as Sr Lucia, are buried. Unfortunately, due to the large number of people in the Basilica is was not possible at this time to visit their graves, but we were able to see the beautiful art and architecture of the Basilica.
Our next destination was the Square to celebrate Mass, along with thousands of other young people on their way to WYD. The Bishop of Leiria Fatima presided and our own chaplain, Fr Jackson, was able to concelebrate along with the many other priests present with their respective pilgrimage groups. The Bishop, Mons. José Ornelas, spoke of Mary as a “pilgrim on mission”, because of the journey she took in life, “accompanying the mission of the Church in the diversity of the peoples of the earth”. He also invited the young people present to be like Mary in service and mission for the Church and for the whole world.
After Mass, pilgrims had some time to explore the Shrine in their own way. Given its size and the number of people it was not possible to see everything, so pilgrims needed to prioritise what they most wanted to see. Most were able to visit the Chapel of the Apparitions and the new (and very large) Basilica of the Holy Trinity, and some were able to explore the Shrine Museum and other chapels around the Square. Pilgrims saw a section of the Berlin Wall, a Museum dedicated to Rosary Beads, and more shops dedicated to Catholic statues, Rosary Beads and other Fatima souvenirs in the town than you can imagine.
After a quick lunch, the pilgrims made their way to the beginning of the Caminho dos Pastorinhos (The Way of the Little Shepherds), a path through the countryside from the children’s homes to what is now the Shrine’s location. The walking path features the Way of the Cross and was a tranquil and easy walk as a group through the beautiful Olive Trees. While we didn’t stop and pray at every station, we were able to walk the whole path, including stopping to see further Apparition sites at Valinhos. Pilgrims enjoyed the opportunity to leave the built-up town area and enjoy beautiful scenery and some prayerful moments along the way.
At the end of our walk, we were able to visit the childhood home of Sr Lucia as well as see through the windows into the home of Francisco and Jacinta (the line to get in here was very long and would have taken at least an hour to get through – we unfortunately didn’t have that kind of time!) After a quick break for some very tasty gelato, we made our way back to the bus before our final stop of the day – a visit to the Parish Church of Fatima where the three children were baptised. It is a beautiful church, originally built in the 1500s. The Church was not as elaborately decorated as many of the churches we have seen in Lisbon; in fact, it felt quite plain in comparison, but it is clearly an active Parish. We did not stop there long, but for some of our pilgrims, visiting this simple, yet beautiful and peaceful Church, was the highlight of the day.
The drive back to Lisbon allowed pilgrims to chat about their day and ask many questions about what they had seen. Bus journeys definitely allow for some fantastic conversations, but also much needed sleep after having been on the go for most of the day. On our return to Lisbon, pilgrims ventured out into the city to find dinner using the first of their WYD Pilgrim Meal Vouchers. After a rather busy day, it is safe to assume it was another early night for the majority of pilgrims (although an “early night” is relative, given most Portuguese Restaurants didn’t start serving dinner until after 8pm!).
Tuesday 1 August – WYD Opening Mass
Today we had our only free morning of the WYD Week – every other morning would be taken up with official WYD events, so pilgrims took the opportunity for a little extra sleep before venturing out to explore Lisbon. Mid-morning, one pilgrim shared a photo of the beautiful Church he’d just walked into via the group’s WhatsApp chat and very quickly many of the other pilgrims shared images of the churches they had also been exploring. There are many beautiful and ornate churches worth visiting when in Lisbon!
The pilgrims all had different places they wanted to visit while in Lisbon, so they headed out in pairs or groups to explore places of interest. Some did walking tours of the City learning more about the history and significant sites, and some went to one of the numerous beaches in the area. There was a lot of gelato eaten – it was necessary given the heat!
The Australian Gathering began in the early afternoon, offering all Australian Pilgrims, as well as our friends from New Zealand and some of the Islands of Oceania, the chance to gather together to share stories, music and prayer. Over 3000 pilgrims from Australia were present at WYD, the largest number at any international WYD (there were more Australian at WYD in Sydney 2008). Gen Bryant and her band, known to many in the Diocese now, thanks to her presence at the Diocesan Assembly earlier in the year, as well as Fr Rob and his band (including our own pilgrim Sinead!) provided some fantastic music to get everyone up and celebrating. Pilgrims shared their hopes for this WYD, offering their learnings from past WYD Pilgrimages. The reminder to be open to the experience and enter into the unknown was a consistent reminder. Archbishop Peter Comensoli was able to take the opportunity to invite all pilgrims to attend the next Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Melbourne in 2025. The celebratory feeling of the gathering really helped set the tone for what was to come as the WYD week kicked off.
Later that afternoon, heading into Parque Eduardo VII (the venue for many of the WYD main events), pilgrims were faced with large crowds, probably the largest crowd they had ever been in. It was definitely overwhelming at times, but at no point did it feel unsafe. Although exact numbers of attendees for this Mass are unknown, it was in the hundreds of thousands- estimate suggest somewhere over 300,000! We managed to find a shady spot to sit – a bit of a rarity within some parts of the park, with a decent view of one of the many screens set up across the park. It can be a strange experience to take part in this kind of Mass, where you can’t see the Altar in person, you don’t understand the language spoken and people are wandering around searching for their group or trying to find a spot to sit. But with the help of the WYD Prayer Book and our own companionship, the experience was joyful and uplifting. The atmosphere felt alive and there was a sense of excitement in the air (or to quote the literal translation of the WYD Theme song, there was a definite sense of “haste in the air!”)
The Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon, Manuel Clemente, finished his homily with the following words:
“Let us learn from Mary to greet each and every person. Let us intensely put it in to practice this World Youth Day. The new world begins in the newness of every encounter and in the sincerity of the greeting we exchange, so that we may be people among people, in a mutual and constant visitation! I wish you all a happy and inspiring World Youth Day!”
(Checkout the full Homily here: Homily for the Opening Mass of World Youth Day (lisboa2023.org))
If you’ve ever wondered how Communion can happen for a crowd this large (and within a relatively short time frame too!) you may be interested to know they have pre-consecrated Hosts ready to go and begin sending Eucharistic Ministers at the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer. Each Minister was accompanied by someone holding an Umbrella (both for Sun Safety and also for people to know where to go!). Once Communion was over, the Volunteers in different zones collected the Ministers one by one forming a procession, making their way to a nearby church (possibly different Churches for different zones). It was a really beautiful sight to see the procession making its way through the crowd with everyone making space to allow the Ministers through safely.
Making our way back to the hotel after Mass was somewhat difficult given the size of the crowd, but our pilgrims looked out for each other, sticking together in pairs and small groups when separated. Eventually we all managed to meet up again by pure chance in one of the back streets and then successfully made it to our very conveniently located hotel only, a block away from the park! Once we knew everyone had returned, we once again dispersed for dinner and enjoyed the electric atmosphere of WYD Lisbon in the evening.
And with that, Part One of the Sandhurst World Youth Day Diary has come to a close. Part Two will cover more of the World Youth Day Week and Part Three will bring our WYD diary to a close, with reflections on our time in Spain.
