Bishop, pilgrims find faith, joy, and fellowship at WYD 2023

From staff and wire reports

Calling the week-long pilgrimage, a “gift from God,” Bishop Edward J. Burns joined more than 1,000 pilgrims from the Diocese of Dallas in Lisbon, Portugal Aug. 1-6 for World Youth Day 2023.

“World Youth Day is without a doubt a gift, a gift from God inspired by the Holy Spirit through St. John Paul II,” Bishop Burns said. “And it has been a gift that just continues to give to the church.”

Tens of thousands of pilgrims from the United States traveled to Libson for World Youth Day, a global event for young people that takes place about every three years and offers a deeper encounter with Jesus Christ through liturgical celebrations, catechetical sessions, faith sharing, fellowship and prayer with Pope Francis.

Sharing the faith
For Bishop Burns, the trip not only included time for reflection, prayer and an excursion to Fátima. It also offered opportunities to shepherd and teach.

In addition to concelebrating in the World Youth Day opening Mass on Aug. 1, the bishop celebrated Masses and led Rise Up! Cathechesis sessions on Integral Ecology at Convento de Nossa Senhora de Bom Successo on Aug. 2 and God’s Mercy at Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Socorro on Aug.4. Bishop Burns also was the co-leading bishop for a Holy Hour during the USA National Pilgrim gathering at Parque de Quinata das Conchas on Aug. 2, where he led the Eucharistic procession.

“What I see are these young people (that) are searching for Jesus Christ. I mean, they want to find him, and they’ve traveled the world to come to World Youth Day, finding him in the presence of the Holy Roman Catholic Church to celebrate in the person of Pope Francis, the successor of Peter, the one to whom Jesus said, ‘Peter, you are rock. And on this rock, I will build my church and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it.’ So, you look at this church, and it is alive,” Bishop Burns said.

In a challenging world, the bishop added, youth need courage.

“Some of the challenges they have are how to be courageous in proclaiming the truth in the world,” he said, adding that the challenge is also how to “work very closely even with their peers in bringing them to the truth and to the church and to our Lord Jesus Christ.”

During the weeklong World Youth Day celebration, Bishop Burns also participated in the welcome ceremony for Pope Francis at Parque Eduardo VII on Aug. 3, was a part of the Via Crucis prayer service with Pope Francis on Aug. 4, concelebrated the USCCB Bishop’s Mass at Igreja de São José dos Carpinteiros and participated in an evening candlelight vigil with Pope

Francis at Parque Tejo on Aug. 5, and joined the more than 1.5 million at the World Youth Day closing Mass with Pope Francis at Parque Tejo on Aug. 6.

Life-changing experiences
In his homily for the closing Mass of World Youth Day Aug. 6, Pope Francis asked pilgrims to repeat a phrase in their hearts: “Don’t be afraid.”

“Jesus knows the hearts of each one of you, the successes and the failures, he knows your hearts,” Pope Francis said. “And today he tells you, here in Lisbon for this World Youth Day: ‘Don’t be afraid.’”

Eduardo De La Cruz, a Dallas diocese pilgrim and parishioner of St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church in Irving, found the Holy Father’s words “spiritually inspiring.”

“I heard Pope Francis’ call to urgency, and it has given me the confidence to take the next step in my discernment,” De La Cruz said, adding that he is visiting a Dominican order in the diocese. “I’m going forward without any fear.”

Bishop Burns noted that history has proven that many of those who make World Youth Day pilgrimages hear that call to vocations.

“One of the things I learned when I was working at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is that of all the men who are ordained every year to the priesthood, 35 percent to 38 percent of them went to World Youth Day,” Bishop Burns said. “This is such an inspirational moment.”

Deacon William Mobley, one of four seminarians on track to be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Dallas in 2024, found inspiration in Pope Francis’ words at World Youth Day.

“It really struck me when he said that we can come face to face with God without changing anything about us,” Deacon Mobley said. “He desires to look at us as we are, without any make-up, any masks covering our faces — just who we are before the Lord.”

Deacon Mobley called his time in Lisbon a beautiful week with Pope Francis, with the young people from around the world, with the bishops, and, in particular, Bishop Burns.

“One of the highlights for me as a transitional deacon was to get to serve Mass for Bishop Burns at a Catechesis session,” he said. “I actually got to assist him as the only deacon at the altar for that Mass. It was a beautiful experience to be at the oldest Jesuit church in the world with my bishop celebrating a Mass.”

Steph Gutierrez, a pilgrim and parishioner of Nuestra Senora del Pilar Catholic Church, called her experience at World Youth Day “life changing.”

“Every single day, I felt like the Holy Spirit was leading me to something. I thought that God spoke to me in different ways,” she said. “I was just in awe of all the people who were there. That was the beauty of it — seeing people from all around the world being excited about Jesus.”

While getting an opportunity to see Pope Francis up close was a highlight for Katie Shore, she also cherished getting to represent her parish, St. Patrick in Dallas, at World Youth Day.

“It was amazing getting to go to Fatima, giving honor to Our Blessed Mother there, and bringing to her the intentions of our parish,” Shore said. “I’ve just been able to grow spiritually and meet lots of people from around the world. It’s been an awesome experience.”

Pope Francis announced Aug. 6 that World Youth Day is returning to Asia in 2027 and will be hosted in Seoul, South Korea.

OSV News contributed to this report. 

Find more photos from World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal by visiting our photo gallery.