Youth in Dialogue. Fraternity as a bond of peace

S. Em. Card. Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar, Bishop of Setúbal, Portugal

Most Eminent and Most Reverend Eminences and Excellencies, Reverend Fathers, Religious, civil, and academic authorities, Dear young people,

Initial Greetings of Gratitude
In thanking the organizers for the invitation, I cannot fail to note that, among the Cardinals present at this meeting, we find some of the youngest members of the College of Cardinals: His Eminence Cardinal Roberto Repole, who has welcomed us here in Turin, ranks twelfth; His Eminence Cardinal George Koovakad, who will join us tomorrow, ranks fourth; while I rank third among the youngest Cardinals. Therefore, dear young people, we too feel ourselves participating in your youth.

Theme of the Address
The theme of my address is “Experiences and Expectations on ‘Fraternity as a Bond of Peace.”

I am aware that the organizers had no role in choosing the global circumstances in which we find ourselves. Yet it is highly significant that our meeting has become a kind of oasis of peace amid the many wars raging in the world.

Dear young people, even though missiles and bombs are falling with intensity on the earth these days, it is more necessary than ever that you be aware that you can make a difference in your circumstances. The good we sow every day may not make noise or attract media attention, yet I would like to emphasize the importance of working in networks—not only social ones, but in that deeper network that is the network of fraternity.

To this end, not only the gestures and witness of the late Pope Francis are illuminating, but also the following words of Pope Leo: “Fraternity arises from a profoundly human reality. We are capable of relationships and, if we so choose, we know how to build authentic bonds among ourselves. Without relationships that support us and enrich us from the very beginning of our lives, we could not survive, grow, or learn. (…) But it is certain that our humanity is fulfilled most fully when we are together and live together, when we are able to experience authentic—not merely formal—bonds with the people beside us. (…) We know well that even today fraternity is not a given, it is not immediate. Many conflicts, numerous wars scattered across the world, social tensions, and feelings of hatred might seem to demonstrate the opposite. Yet fraternity is not an impossible dream, nor the desire of a few deluded individuals.”

EXPERIENCES REGARDING THE WYD LISBON 2023

PREPARATION FOR WYD

WYD Open to Everyone
I think it is generally known that in 2023 I was entrusted with the responsibility of organizing and coordinating the World Youth Day in Lisbon.

On January 27, 2019, Pope Francis announced in Panama that Lisbon would be the host city for the next World Youth Day, which was originally scheduled to take place in 2022. For me, however, the WYD in Lisbon had in fact already begun earlier, because I had been in Panama since November 2018. The time we have available today is short, and for this reason I do not intend to go into the details of my memories. Indeed, I promised myself that I would never write a memoir! Yet, in order to be faithful to what the organizers of this meeting have requested, I must draw upon some personal episodes and recollections.

First of all, I must return to the memories of the frequent conversations with Pope Francis in the years preceding the WYD in Lisbon. Every World Youth Day is a Day of the Pope. For this reason, in a certain sense, it was Pope Francis who inspired my work and ours, in which fraternity—that is, the certainty that we are united in the same humanity—played a primordial role. This role became even more urgent because of the pandemic that struck us in 2020.

I recall those unforgettable words of Pope Francis, in an empty St. Peter’s Square, in March of that year: “We realized that we are all in the same boat, fragile and disoriented, yet at the same time important and necessary, all called to row together, all in need of comforting one another. On this boat… we are all present. Like those disciples, (…) we too realized that we cannot go forward each on our own, but only together.”

In a certain sense, the fact that a World Youth Day is, in its origin, an event organized by the Catholic Church does not mean that it is intended only for those already within its visible boundaries. The Church has received from Jesus the commandment to go out to all peoples (cf. Mk 16:15). Thus, a WYD also addresses all young people.

In a television interview I gave on July 10, 2023, I expressed precisely this idea: that everyone is invited to participate, that WYD is open to all, and that we must not be held hostage by a false sense of proselytism. In the days that followed, a wave of fierce protests arose—both in the media and on social networks—against these statements of mine, from people and outlets that removed my words from their context.

The response to these voices of protest, however, came from Pope Francis himself when, already in Lisbon on August 3, 2023, before a multitude of young people watching him in silence, he said: “Friends, I want to be clear with you, who are allergic to falsehoods and empty words: in the Church there is room for everyone, for everyone! No one is useless, no one is superfluous; there is room for everyone. Just as we are, all of us. And Jesus makes this clear when he sends the apostles to invite people to the banquet prepared by that man, saying: ‘Go and bring everyone—young and old, healthy and sick, righteous and sinners: everyone, everyone, everyone.’”

On the path that will lead us to Seoul, in South Korea—a country where Catholics are not the majority—I believe this invitation is even more pressing: everyone is called to experience the fraternity that every WYD offers.

WYD is not only meeting, but goes out to meet
Secondly, from the very beginning of the preparation for WYD, I realized that many young people could not travel to Lisbon because the circumstances in which they found themselves—war, persecution, and so on—did not allow it. Therefore, I made it a priority that WYD could go out to meet those young people. Of the various trips I undertook before August 2023, two remain particularly vivid in my memory: the trip to Ukraine and the pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

I traveled to Ukraine from July 15 to 17, 2023. It was a journey of tears and hope. Tears, because the unspeakable suffering of war was written on the faces of so many people I met. In particular, in Bucha and Irpin, I encountered an especially difficult situation. Hope, because amid the ruins, sharing prayer, sharing suffering, and—above all—demonstrating the certainty that, during the days of WYD, young people in difficulty in that part of the world would not be forgotten—that is, fraternity in network—was a simple way to nurture what is good.

I was guided and enlightened by the following words of Pope Francis: “Every day offers us a new opportunity, a new stage. (…) We enjoy a space of co-responsibility capable of initiating and generating new processes and transformations. We must be active participants in the rehabilitation and support of wounded societies. Today we are faced with the great opportunity to express our brotherhood, to be other Good Samaritans who take upon themselves the pain of failures instead of fostering hatred and resentment. (…) Let others continue to focus on politics or economics for their power games. Let us nourish what is good and place ourselves at the service of goodness.”

The pilgrimage to the Holy Land, from July 22 to 25, 2023, was an opportunity to be close to both Israeli and Palestinian young people. During the few days in which I had the privilege of following the footsteps of Jesus on the earth—from Nazareth to Bethlehem, from the Jordan to Jerusalem—my concern was to bring WYD to those young people who could not travel to Lisbon. There, in addition to connecting with Caritas Jerusalem, which provided the rosaries that the young people received in their welcome packages in Lisbon, I met young people marked by suffering who, together with young people of other religions, were able to smile, be together, and build a different and better world.

THE DAYS OF WYD

The Experience of Fraternity at WYD Lisbon
It is difficult to put into words the complex and rich experience of WYD Lisbon. Cardinal George Koovakad will also be able to share many stories lived together, both during the preparation and in the very days when Pope Francis was present in the Portuguese capital.

From the perspective of “Fraternity as a Bond of Peace,” I would like to highlight some elements that summarize the main ideas:

a) The joy of young people on the streets of Lisbon: joy has no nationality, no religion, and certainly cannot be bought with money or material goods. The first experience of all who came into contact with young people in Lisbon was encountering joyful, happy young people, eager to share their faith, but also cultural moments, music, and acts of fraternal help. In those days, I met many volunteers and many young people who were tired and sleepy, yet I found no one sad or unhappy. It is in the sharing of joy that we find the most beautiful moments of fraternity and peace. A sad fraternity is not true fraternity. A sad peace is not true peace.

b) Logistics: organizing an event like WYD is highly complex. To share just a few figures, more than three million meals were provided across over one thousand five hundred catering points. At the end of WYD, the Food Bank received more than five hundred fourteen tons of leftover food. But behind the logistics, the true protagonists were the young people from more than thirty countries who, for months, worked intensively, creating friendships and connections that have continued over time. What I would like to emphasize is that bonds of fraternity are not limited to the days of WYD, but, through current communication tools and social networks, extend across time and geographic space: Portuguese young people continue to stay in contact with young people from all parts of the world, sharing not only memories but also future projects.

c) The Role of Beauty: the famous writer and philosopher Dostoevsky is credited with the well-known phrase, “Beauty will save the world.” I am convinced that beauty is also part of fraternity. The beauty of music—not only in the liturgy, but more generally in the many events that took place in Lisbon from August 1 to 6, 2023—provided opportunities for sharing, being together, and experiencing a peace that words can scarcely express. It seems to me a path to follow on the road of fraternity: the path to making the environment around us beautiful.

d) True fraternity is also an interior reality: it is well known that peace is born in the heart. In the encyclical Fratelli tutti, Pope Francis presents fraternity as a path to overcome contemporary divisions. He calls for a culture of encounter, in which difference is not a threat but a source of richness. WYD promotes this richness because it is a gathering of young people from all over the world. In Lisbon, young people came together from every country, except the Maldives. But more important than the number of young people or countries is that each young person brings with them a story, a journey that they naturally share with others. This sharing was significant also in moments of prayer, spirituality, and in the various liturgical celebrations. Fraternity and peace also arise from the prayer of each person, shared with others. Being here in Turin, I cannot forget that St. John Bosco was one of the Patron Saints of WYD Lisbon, and the example of his life continues to inspire many young people even today.

CONCLUSION
I conclude my address with a few words from a contemporary author:
“With the advent of the internet, we have all found ourselves involved in a network. You no longer exist if you are not connected. (…) Now, we exist online. It has reached deeply, because it has given us an experience of interconnected life. (…) Our entire life has been reset based on new needs—the needs of connection.”

If technological means allow a WYD, held in Lisbon or Seoul, to be followed all over the world at any moment, we too can strive to “reset” our relationships in the key of fraternity, concluding that what unites us as brothers far outweighs what divides us. And peace is always possible when beauty, goodness, and kindness dwell in the heart of each person.

Thank you for your attention and patience, especially regarding my Italian!

Turin, 6 March 2026