Towards Lisbon WYD , the young people of Macao pray for their land in Fatima

About one hundred young people from Macau will participate in the world meeting with Pope Francis. The delegations of the diocesan youth pastoral ministries and of the Portuguese-speaking parishes at the sanctuary of the apparitions, deeply linked due to the history of the former Lusitanian colony that returned to China in 1999.

Macao (AsiaNews) - About one hundred young people from Macao are among the thousands of pilgrims who are traveling to Lisbon for World Youth Day. The gathering of their peers from all over the world around Pope Francis takes on a particular meaning for the young people of this autonomous region of China, due to the fact that until 1999 it was a Portuguese territory with a deep bond dating to the 16th century when it became the "door of evangelization on the Chinese continent" as described by John Paul II.

The diocesan Catholic website O Clarim reports that the two main groups present at the WYD - the Chinese-speaking diocesan youth ministry and the Portuguese-speaking parishes - are already in Portugal and have stopped at the sanctuary of Fatima where the young prayed for the intentions of the Catholics of Macao. Representing the Portuguese-speaking community of the diocese, in particular, three young people recited the Rosary in the Chapel of the Apparitions.

In Macao - also because of her story - devotion to Our Lady of Fatima is deeply rooted: the parish named after her also gives its name to one of her most populous neighborhoods, in the northern part of the city. “This stage in Fatima is very important for us," explained the vice-director of the diocesan Commission for young people Tammy Chio to the O Clarim site on the eve of the trip. "For most of these young people, this is their first visit to Portugal. Participating in the evening torchlight procession will allow them to feel an integral part of this moment of faith".

In addition to the two main groups at the WYD in Lisbon there will also be smaller groups included in the international pilgrimages of the Neocatechumenal Way and Opus Dei and some students of the Don Bosco College who participate together with the Hong Kong group.

• WYD
• Lisbon