Celebration of Italians at the XXXVII World Youth Day
On the occasion of World Youth Day in Lisbon, a meeting was held that brought together all 65,000 Italian pilgrims.
The evening was opened by the words that the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, addressed to a delegation of young people received at the Quirinale with the Secretary General of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Monsignor Giuseppe Baturi, on 10 June. During the evening there were a number of stories and testimonies told in the first person by the guests: actress Giusy Buscemi; volleyball player Cristina Chirichella; writer and teacher Enrico Galiano; Libera founder Don Luigi Ciotti; humanitarian worker Gennaro Giudetti, engaged in the defence of human rights in conflict zones.
The second part of the evening was dedicated to prayer, with the exchange of gifts between young people from Italy and Portugal, in the presence of the president of the Italian Bishops' Conference Matteo Maria Zuppi, the secretary general of the Italian Bishops' Conference Giuseppe Baturi, and the Patriarch of Lisbon Manuel José Macário do Nascimento Clemente.
