World Youth Day Recap

Mater Dei Radio partnered with our former intern Bernadette Curl as she made her pilgrimage journey to Lisbon for World Youth Day. Check out these amazing updates that Bernadette shared with us as she traveled.

August 7, 2023: World Youth Day

See these final photos from Bernadette recapping the rest of World Youth Day!

: Preparing for the World Youth Day opening ceremony

: Sunset on the beach near where they stayed in Portugal

: Pilgrim Mass in 0the Church of Our Lady of the Incarnation in Lisbon

: Opportunity to venerate relics of St. Therese of Lisieux

: Camping out before Mass with Pope Francis the next day

: Adoration during the campout vigil

: Pope Francis driving through crowd before Mass

: Saying goodbye to Fr. Peter Arteaga

Here’s a description of the photos from Bernadette:

Photo 1 – Mass on Friday with other pilgrims in the Church of Our Lady of the Incarnation in Lisbon.

Photo 2 – Preparing for the World Youth Day opening ceremony with on Thursday, August 3, with Pope Francis. It was estimated there were 500,000 people in attendance!

Photo 3 – Sunset on the beach near where they stayed in Portugal.

Photo 4 – An opportunity to venerate relics of St. Therese of Lisieux on Friday.

Photo 5 – The crowd camping out on Saturday evening in preparation for Mass with Pope Francis the next day. It was estimated that 1.5 million people attended!

Photo 6 – Adoration during the campout vigil on Saturday night.

Photo 7 – Picture of Pope Francis (courtesy of Andrea Velazquez, also in the same group)! He took the time on Sunday to drive through the crowds before Mass!

Photo 8 – Saying goodbye to Fr. Peter Arteaga from the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit after returning to Paris on Tuesday for their flight home. It was thanks to Fr. Peter that the group was able to go on this trip!

August 3, 2023: Fatima & the Start of World Youth Day

Bernadette sent us some photos of when her group got to see Pope Francis driving by at the start of World Youth Day! The pilgrims in her group from Oregon were also excited to run into Archbishop Sample!

On her way to Lisbon for World Youth Day, Bernadette Curl stopped in Fatima!

: Bernadette and her siblings in the main plaza of Fatima

: inside the Basilica where the three shepherd children who saw Our Lady are buried (Saint Jacinta, Saint Francisco, and Venerable Lucia)

: Site of the 4th apparition of Mary in Fatima

August 1, 2023: Madrid

Yesterday Bernadette’s pilgrimage group left Spain, where they had met up with 100 other pilgrims from the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit parishes from Mexico, Spain, and Italy! Here are some photos from their time in Spain, with an audio update coming soon.

The group is now in Portugal, where young Catholics from all over the world are gathering as World Youth Day officially begins today! Please keep all the pilgrims in your prayers.