WYD ’23 Recap – Part I
Editor’s Note: This is the first article in our World Youth Day (WYD) series. Each article will include a photo gallery. The images can be enlarged by clicking on the magnifying glass which appears when you hover the cursor over the center image. The enlarged mode displays an explanatory caption at the base of the photo. Scroll through the gallery by clicking on the arrows at the right and left of each image.
“No thank you, I can’t afford to buy the booklet. Oh, it’s free? A gift from Our Lady? Thank you so much. Yes, I will read it! Umm… May I also have one for my friend?”
“I’ve prayed the Rosary, but only every now and then. I did not realize how important it is.”
“Really? Our Lady of Fatima promised world peace? And only She can bring it about? That makes sense. I agree with you that our world is in a huge mess. It’s not getting solved by politics, economics, medicines, or wars. We do need God’s intervention. This is one of the reasons why I came to World Youth Day.”
These were common responses which our Fatima Center team heard while evangelizing on the streets of Lisbon during World Youth Day. Although World Youth Day has been hosted about every three years since 1985, this was only the second time The Fatima Center sent a team. (Fr. Gruner sent a team to Toronto in 2002.) So, why did we go?
Carrying Out the Mission of Our Lady’s Apostolate
I’ll be the first to confess that I did not want to go. In my “former life” – before learning the true Message of Fatima and discovering that the Traditional Latin Mass still existed – I had actually attended three World Youth Days (Denver ’93, Paris ’97, and Toronto ’02). At this point in my life, I did not care to repeat those experiences.
However, we received numerous calls from supporters who pleaded with us to go. Their rationale was compelling. Given its proximity to Fatima (just a 75-minute drive north of Lisbon), it was a natural fit for our apostolate. What better place to talk to Catholics about Our Lady of Fatima’s Message than at the very site She chose for Her apparitions?
We know how imperative it is that each generation faithfully transmits the Catholic Faith, one to the next. This holds true for Our Lady’s Message as well. So many of today’s Catholic youth have not heard the Message of Fatima. Meanwhile, thousands of such youth – enthusiastic, professing Catholics anxious to grow in their knowledge of and fervor for the Faith – were making plans to gather in Portugal from all over the world. What better opportunity could we hope for, to put out into the deep and cast our nets, than with such an audience who could then take the Fatima Message back to every corner of the world?
Given its very public nature, we knew we would have ample opportunity to interact with the youth without actually registering for or attending any of the planned events. This was important to us, as we did not want to lend any support to the scandalous activities that are part of WYD. Rather, we knew how necessary it would be to offer reparation for the proliferation of sacrilege and sin.
Preparation for the Mission
Generous supporters of this apostolate responded further with prayers and donations urging us to go. Suffice it to say, this was enough to convince me that going would be a faithful response to Our Lady. We know God wants a worldwide devotion to Her Immaculate Heart, and this was indeed a golden opportunity to make Her better known, loved, and obeyed.
So we ‘rolled up our sleeves’ and ‘got on our knees’ to prepare for this evangelizing mission. We produced a new booklet (Fatima in Brief) in the five primary languages of WYD, created a new page at our website, conducted interviews, and prepped a team of youth to help spread the Message of Fatima among their international peers. Yet the spiritual preparation was the most important. So, prior to any evangelizing efforts, we went on a three-day pilgrimage in Fatima directed by Fr. Karl Stehlin which included Mass, Rosary, conferences, prayer at holy sites, and a ‘deep dive’ into Our Lady’s Message.
Sowing Seeds
Once in Portugal, the opportunities Our Lady presented us with were endless. It was beautiful to see the Catholic sites of Portugal filled with youthful pilgrims. We spread the Message of Fatima not just in Lisbon, but also at Fatima, Aljustrel, and Santarem, because youthful pilgrims were visiting all the renowned Catholic sites of Portugal. And we didn’t just spread the Fatima Message outside the WYD venues, but at any opportunity, which included parks, restaurants, street corners, the metro, and even the airport. We distributed thousands of booklets, Fatima prayer cards, rosaries, and scapulars, and had countless conversations about Our Lady of Fatima and the Catholic Faith.
Although this year’s World Youth Day had fewer registrants (354,000) than most of the previous ones, it did set a record for the most nations represented – more than 200. Our experience confirmed this report. We would rejoice every time we engaged pilgrims from a “new” country. I was amazed to meet Catholics from Iraq, China, Martinique, the United Arab Emirates, Gabon, Latvia, Mauritius, and the Solomon Islands. Yet the greatest number of pilgrims were from Spain (~77,000), Italy (~60,000), Portugal (~45,000), France (~423,000) and the United States (~20,000). Our booklet featured the five languages of these nations, and as a Fatima Center team, we were proficient in all those languages.
In retrospect, I am extremely grateful that, through our faithful supporters, Our Lady called us to this mission. Probably the only regret I have is that we did not have more resources! If we could have had even more sacramentals and literature to distribute, had our team included more people, had there been more hours in a day, we would have reached even more souls. Nevertheless, we confidently placed all of our efforts in Our Lady’s maternal hands. She called us to sow seeds; we entrust to Divine Providence the growth of those seeds in the hearts of Her children.
Pray for Abundant Graces
It is my hope that many of the people we spoke to will heed Our Lady’s Message. It is my prayer that they will spread Her Message in their homelands. Perhaps a pilgrim will come to know Our Lady through the prayer card we gave them on the metro. Perhaps a soul will be saved by a scapular they received outside the Church of Santa Isabel. Or perhaps a youth, having heard something in an interview we conducted at the Jardim da Estrela, will begin to practice the First Saturday devotions. I can even imagine a scenario twenty years in the future, where a father in South America is teaching his son the Rosary, explaining that his life was forever changed by a Fatima Center booklet he found discarded at a Lisbon bus station during World Youth Day. Truly, God works in mysterious ways. And who but Our Lord knows what good fruit our united efforts may yield?
Yet I also ask you, dear reader, to please pray for those who heard our message. Pray and offer sacrifices that they may receive – and effectively respond to! – many graces from Our Lady. And let us all offer much reparation for the sins and sacrileges which have, sadly, become an expected part of the World Youth Day events.
The Fatima Center heartily thanks every person who helped make this effort possible. Every one of you who said a prayer, offered a sacrifice, shared the news, or sent a donation has played a vital part in this effort and likewise shares in its supernatural merits. May Our Lord and Our Lady abundantly reward you, as only They can!
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!