Faithful brave the heat for pope’s vigil in Portugal
Pope Francis celebrates World Youth Day with estimated 1.5 million young people in Lisbon
LISBON, Portugal — An estimated 1.5 million young people filled a field in the Portuguese capital Lisbon on Saturday for Pope Francis’ World Youth Day vigil, braving scorching heat to secure a spot for the evening prayer and to camp out overnight for his final farewell Mass on Sunday morning.
Francis made only brief remarks before them, however, and ditched his prepared speech for the fourth time in two days. Instead, the 86-year-old pontiff delivered a lively, 10-minute offthe-cuff chat in his native Spanish about journeying together and helping one another. “No fear, thanks, ciao!” he said at the end before aides pushed him in his wheelchair to the side of the stage.
Temperatures had soared to 95 Fahrenheit on Saturday in Lisbon and were forecast to top 104 F on Sunday. The heat forced pilgrims to shelter under umbrellas and makeshift shades of plastic canvas sheets tied between trash bins in the otherwise exposed field on the edge of the River Tagus.
Crews blew misters at the pilgrims to try to cool them down as they made their way into the venue at the peak of the day’s heat, many flying their national flags. They formed long lines to fill water bottles from what organizers said were more than 400 faucets around the field.
Smoke from a spate of wildfires that broke out around Portugal during a weekend spike in temperatures cast a haze over the sky as they arrived on foot from all around the city for one of the liturgical highlights of the Catholic youth festival. Citing local organizers, the Vatican said an estimated 1.5 million people were on hand. Francis presided over the evening vigil after spending the morning at the Catholic shrine in Fatima.
There, he ditched his prepared speech and a prayer for peace. The prayer had been expected to be a highlight of Francis’ visit to Fatima, given the shrine’s century-old affiliation with exhortations of peace and conversion in Russia and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Francis instead “prayed silently for peace, with pain,” while meditating for a long period before a statue of the Virgin Mary, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. And the Vatican later posted the prayer on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
An estimated 200,000 turned out for Francis’ visit to Fatima, packing the central esplanade long before the red-tinted moon set and the sun rose. Nearby wildfires turned the sky smoky black and sent ash snowing down on the crowd.
“We are here with great joy,” said Maria Florido, a 24-year-old Spaniard who also saw Francis in Lisbon. “We woke up very early to come here and see the pope ... and we’re here with great enthusiasm.”
The Fatima story dates back to 1917, when according to tradition, Portuguese siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto and their cousin Lucia said the Virgin Mary appeared to them six times and confided to them three secrets. The first two described an apocalyptic image of hell, foretold the end of World War I and the start of World War II, and portended the rise and fall of Soviet communism.
In 2000, the Vatican disclosed the long-awaited third secret, describing it as foretelling the May 13, 1981, assassination attempt against St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square, which fell on the anniversary of the original vision.
According to later writings by Lucia, who became a nun and died in 2005, Russia would be converted and peace would reign if the pope and all the bishops of the world consecrated Russia to the “Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Lucia later claimed that John Paul fulfilled that prophecy during a 1984 Mass, even though he never specified Russia in the prayer.
Vatican Media had said before the trip that Francis would pray for peace in Ukraine and the world while in Fatima. It seemed logical, given Francis had already consecrated both Russia and Ukraine to Mary in a prayer for peace following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, essentially fulfilling Sr. Lucia’s exhortation.