ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 28, 2023 / 08:30 am
Bishop Demetrio Fernández of Córdoba, Spain, reflected on the upcoming World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, Portugal, in his recent weekly letter, saying that young people “don’t need reefers, condoms, or alcohol to experience an unforgettable joy.”
Noting that WYD imprints an evangelizing impetus on children and adolescents, the bishop said: “It does them a lot of good to sing, dance, adore the Lord, go to confession, and participate in the Eucharist. That is, having a good time precisely because they are Christians.”
It’s also a positive thing, he said, for those who attend WYD “to see a universal, young, dynamic Church, living these days of communion and encounter with other young people from all over the world, being welcomed by the dioceses as if they were their children.”
The theme for WYD 2023 in Lisbon is taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke: “Mary rose up and went with haste.”