Pope Francis visits Portugal for World Youth Day 2023, which happens from Aug. 1 until Aug. 6.
The Catholic Church leader's visit happens as the Portuguese Catholic Church suffers from criticisms due to clergy members' sexual abuse acts.
Pope Francis Portugal World Youth Day Visit 2023
Pope Francis waves to the crowd on arrival for a meeting with Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa (not pictured) at Apostolic Nunciature in Lisbon, Portugal, 02 August 2023. The Pontiff is in Portugal on the occasion of World Youth Day (WYD), one of the main events of the Church that gathers the Pope with youngsters from around the world.
According to Time Magazine's latest report, the Pope arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, on Wednesday, Aug. 2. His visit is for the annual festive gathering for young Catholics, which is expected to see around 1 million attendees.
World Youth Day is a big deal for Portugal since around 85% of residents identify as Catholics. However, his visit also happens amid the sex abuse issues that the Portuguese Catholic Church's clergies face.
This all began when a 500-page report was published in February.
The document focuses on the investigation of the decade of sexual abuse of clergy members involving thousands of children (at least 4,815 kids).
The report's publication surprised the entire Catholic county.
"There was indignation. Even the President, who comes from the center-right and is Catholic, had a reaction of indignation," said the University of Lisbon's Prof. Antonio Costa Pinto.
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Pope Francis to Meet With Sex Abuse Victims
Pope Francis looks on during a meeting with internally displaced persons at the Freedom Hall in Juba, South Sudan, on February 4, 2023. - Pope Francis is making the first papal visit to South Sudan since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and then plunged into a brutal ethnic conflict that left the young nation divided and traumatized.
France 24 reported that Pope Francis will meet with sex abuse survivors privately before World Youth Day 2023 ends. After this, the Catholic Church leader is expected to refer to the problem in his public remarks.
As of writing, the exact date and location for the meeting with sex abuse survivors hasn't been confirmed yet.
This is not the first time that the pope will privately meet with clergy sex abuse victims since he did it during his past foreign trips.
With the participation of Pope Francis, many people see that World Youth Day this 2023 will bring hope.
One of the volunteers said that the event in Portugal gives a ray of hope to get out n the streets again.
"I think World Youth Day brings hope, after the pandemic, after being locked down, not able to live our faith as we were used to, as we wished for," shared the volunteer.
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