I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend World Youth Day this year in Lisbon, Portugal, via the Italian Way Pilgrimage.

In the last few years it has been difficult for me to connect to the faith and the church, especially as someone living in Melbourne in 2023, and even more as someone who lived through the lockdowns and live streamed Mass.  I’d found myself not really understanding or thinking about much, but just going through the motions at Mass or simply not attending when it was online.  I was lost and confused.  And while coming back has been good, I was sometimes lacking the commitment to understand what it can mean to be a part of the Church.  But this opportunity has allowed me to reconnect to my faith.  It allowed me to meet young Catholics, priests and seminarians from Melbourne that I otherwise would not have met, and to have seen the youth of the universal church, excited, and all in one place.  It has allowed me to see, experience, grow and learn so much about the faith, the saints, the history of the church, and how to pray.

I went on the Italian Way, which meant I went on a pre-pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi.  We landed in Rome to be greeted by 42 degree heat, which was a struggle in the cobblestone streets, with very few trees, but this didn’t take away from everything we were about to see.  We started at the Church of the Gesu, which had an incredible ceiling fresco of sunlight pouring into the church breaking over the 3D frame.

We were able to see where St Ignatius lived, prayed and wrote, and were also able to see his death mask and height!  And yes I am taller than him.

We were able to visit the four Basilicas of Rome, all of which were adorned with magnificent gold ceilings, mosaics, statues and paintings that is hard to describe but here are a few pictures.

We went to the Holy Stairs, which Jesus ascended to his trial by Pontius Pilate, and must be climbed on your knees.  While it sounded easy enough, it was so painful and difficult to tolerate, but doesn’t even scratch the surface of what Jesus went through for us. 

We were able to have daily mass in all sorts of side chapels, including at the Church of the Holy Cross, in St Peter’s and the day after that, out of desperation, in the dining hall.

Then when the Archbishop arrived and told us we’d get a private tour of the Vatican, imagine the gasps when it was actually a surprise one hour Q&A with the Pope!

Some of the answers he gave include: the Lord is with you, always; you need to give children freedom to choose but not be neglectful, the only time you should look down on someone is when you are helping them up, and when asked what we should do at World Youth Day, his advice was to get married, as a lot of people meet their spouse there!

Our next stop was Assisi, where at the Hermitage of St Francis, we were able to see the humble, small places where he lived and prayed, and the rocky bed where he slept was so small and not flat, and the doorways so small one person in our group got stuck!  The town of Assisi on the hilltop was beautiful, preserved and peaceful, and we were able to visit the Basilicas and tombs of St Francis and St Clare, and the chapel that St Francis rebuilt, which is now within a Basilica itself, and the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis. 

Arriving in Portugal, our first stop was Fatima, where we were able to see the Basilicas, the house of the children, and join the crowds for the candlelight procession singing Ave Maria together, which is still stuck in my head to this day.

When we got to Lisbon, we were greeted by the other 1.5 million young people descending on the city.  It was a hugely different experience, leaving the quiet of Assisi behind for singing on packed buses and forming long human chains as the only way to leave the main events, surrounded by crowds chanting “Papa Francesco, Pope for the Youth”, going to Masses with seemingly endless lines of extraordinary ministers, and culminating with a 15 km walk in 37 degree heat and carrying seven litres of water, to reach the sleepout where we would have the final Vigil, Adoration and Mass with the Pope, as well as being woken up to a Portuguese DJ priest blasting techno music.

Overall, I could not recommend this life changing pilgrimage more, and I think all the pilgrims, even all the Xavier boys in our group would agree, as it has opened us up to what 2000 years of our Catholic faith is about, and we were able to bring a lot more home from than just photos and 1 euro souvenirs. 

By Gerard Khoo