World Youth Day ‘Home’ Event Brings Teens in Communion with Peers in Lisbon

Young people flock together at the Parque Tejo in Lisbon for a vigil with Pope Francis, ahead of the 37th World Youth Day, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023. Photo by Ana Brigida / AP

While an estimated 1.5 million young people gathered in Lisbon for World Youth Day with Pope Francis, another 62 gathered in metro Detroit with Archbishop Allen Vigneron. These youth were from 11 different parishes, and they came together at Our Lady of the Fields Camp in Brighton, staying there in solidarity with their counterparts in Portugal.

Archbishop Vigneron emphasized that message of unity in his homily during Mass, celebrated alongside Bishop Francis Y. Kalabat of the Chaldean Diocese of St. Thomas the Apostle, who owns and operates the camp.

“By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are very much in communion with all the pilgrims gathered around our Holy Father the pope, in Lisbon,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “And so we are the recipients of graces poured out there, but also we ought to understand that they are blessed by our observance of World Youth Day. In fact, each of us is blessed by the observance of all of us. So whatever your own particular intentions or aspirations are, as you come to this pilgrimage, remember, be assured you are not alone.”

– Detroitcatholic.com