"The WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation received with great joy the news, by the Holy See, of the visit of Pope Francis to Portugal. August 6", announced the WYD organisation in a statement.

According to the note, "by the express will of Pope Francis, the official program of the visit will also include a trip to Fátima, which will take place on August 5".

The Pope will participate, on 3 August, in the afternoon, in the Parque Eduardo VI, in the ceremony of the Welcome of the Pilgrims. The following day, he will preside over the Via Sacra, also in Eduardo VI Park, while on Saturday, in addition to the morning in Fátima, he will be in the late afternoon, and early evening, in Tagus Park, for the beginning of the Youth Vigil.

On Sunday, in addition to the final mass, during the morning, also in Parque Tejo, in the afternoon there will be a meeting with the thousands of volunteers participating in WYD, before returning to the Vatican.

After disclosing the dates of the Pope's stay in Portugal, the cardinal-patriarch of Lisbon, Manuel Clemente, shared, in a note, the “joy for being able to participate in this World Youth Day” and expressed “gratitude to all the authorities” in the country, who “help make this day possible”.

“I would also like to thank all the partners and benefactors of WYD Lisbon 2023 who generously help us in the most diverse difficulties and needs that we encounter”, says Manuel Clemente.

This is the second trip of Pope Francis to Portugal, after in 2017, presiding over the ceremonies of May 13, at the Sanctuary of Fátima, in a visit within the framework of the centenary of the apparitions and which was marked by the official canonisation of the two shepherd children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto.

Francis is the fourth Pope to visit Portugal, after Paul VI in 1967, John Paul II in 1982, 1991 and 2000, and Benedict XVI in 2010.