The presence of the pope at W.Y.D. was something of the utmost importance, an invaluable gift, and a source of immense inspiration and affirmation of the pilgrims’ faith.
Youth
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis joins World Youth Day Way of the Cross in Panama
The pope said the road to Calvary is “a way of suffering and solitude” that is “prolonged in a society that has lost the ability to weep and to be moved by suffering.”
Posted inFaith, News
Jesus’ love does not use labels, pope tells young detainees in Panama
Speaking to young detainees at a penitential liturgy in Las Garzas de Pacora Juvenile Detention Center in Panama Jan. 25, the pope said society creates “an adjective culture” that prefers to immediately label people as good or bad rather than truly getting to know them.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Cardinal O’Malley: World Youth Day is ‘an extraordinary grace for the church’
The cardinal described W.Y.D. as “an extraordinary event in the life of the church.”
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Panama mosque offers free water to World Youth Day pilgrims
While hundreds of vendors sold water to the thirsty, the Muslim community at the oldest mosque in Panama City gave it away for free near a banner that said, “Welcome Pilgrim Friends.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Pope in Panama blasts corruption as he prays for Venezuelans
Pope Francis insisted Thursday that public officials live simply, honestly and transparently as he opened a visit to a Central American region that has been rife with corruption scandals and is now coping with political upheaval in nearby Venezuela.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope brings World Youth Day to Panama’s detained youth
Francis on Friday will celebrate a special penitential Mass inside the Las Garzas de Pacora detention center, which is Panama’s main youth lockup.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis on St. Óscar Romero, a model saint for Central America’s bishops
The pope described St. Óscar Romero as one of the “prophetic fruits of the church in Central America.”
Posted inFaith, Politics & Society
Pope Francis: Panama has become “a hub of hope” by hosting World Youth Day
Panama’s President, Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez, gave Pope Francis a very warm state welcome at the Presidential Palace located on the site of the original 1673 building. He welcomed him to this land “of peace and dialogue.”
Posted inFaith, News
Marginalized take center stage at World Youth Day Panama
One of World Youth Day’s first event focused on the plight of populations most of the world rarely sees or comes across: the indigenous.