(ZENIT News / Lisbon, 03.08.2023).- On Thursday morning, August 3, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in private in the Apostolic Nunciature, attended by four relatives of the 62-year-old French woman, a catechism instructor, who was in Lisbon for the World Youth Day and died a few days ago following an accident in the house where she was staying.
Before leaving the Nunciature, the Holy Father met with a group of fifteen young pilgrims from Ukraine, accompanied by Mr. Denys Kolada, Consultor for the Dialogue with the Religious Organizations of the Ukrainian Government. After listening to their moving stories, the Pontiff addressed a few words to express his “painful and prayerful” closeness to them. At the end of the meeting, which lasted some 30 minutes, the Pope and the young people prayed the Our Father together, with their thought focused on tormented Ukraine.
Pope Francis then left the Apostolic Nunciature and went by car to the Portuguese Catholic University of Lisbon where, at 9:00 am he met with University students in the Square in front of the University .
After listening to a musical piece in the University and the welcome greeting of Professor Isabel Capeloa Gil, Rector of the Portuguese Catholic University, there were two testimonies, one inspired by the encyclical Laudato Si’, and the other by the Global Education Pact. Then, after a song, a testimony followed on the “Economy of Francis” and another by a young woman helped by the Pope Francis Fund for a Culture of Encounter,” after which the Pontiff pronounced his address.
At the end, after praying the Our Father, the Final Blessing and listening to a last musical piece, the Holy Father blessed the Cornerstone of the Veritatis Campus. According to the local authorities, some 6,500 people attended the events at the Catholic University.
The Holy Father then left the University and went by car to the headquarters of Scholas Occurrentes in Cascais.
