Pope Francis to 1.5 million youth in Portugal: Be 'beacons of hope in dark times'

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Last edited Mon Aug 14, 2023, 09:41 AM - Edit history (1)

https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/pope-francis-15-million-youth-portugal-be-beacons-hope-dark-times?fbclid=IwAR3H3HKyC1Va6DOW_UEpCH95K4E6TacHpmUecYVAVSyVqrfnatY8ha1mVFs

With war raging in Europe and ever increasing polarization throughout the world, Pope Francis on Aug. 6 told a massive gathering of more than 1.5 million young people to choose dialogue over isolation and to be "beacons of hope in dark times."

Christians, the pope said, are called "to love our neighbors as they are, not only when they agree with us, but also when they are unkind or disagreeable."


The pope's remarks came during the closing Mass for the World Youth Day celebrations, which drew hundreds of thousands of young people from more than 200 countries here to the Portuguese capital for the weeklong festivities.

In what local authorities were describing as the largest event in the history of the nation, young people slept out all night along the banks of the Tagus River to be present with the 86-year-old pope, who consistently used the week's events to underscore the importance of intergenerational relationships.

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