"What we are doing is transmitting the real situation of the country where we are going, the European dream is no longer the same as in the 90s, the 2000s", said this Monday to Lusa the national director of Youth Ministry of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé (CEAST), Armando Pio Alberto.
The Catholic priest claims that "who sees the face, does not see the heart" and that the organization "cannot identify these manifest wills (to escape) because many are secret", he stressed, admitting that there is some risk.
In addition to internal mechanisms to minimize this possibility, the coordinator of the Angolan caravan, which should have around 520 young pilgrims, has presented them with the "real situation" that Europe is currently going through.
Europe "has gone through many mutations and, therefore, we are saying this to young people who, above all, nowadays, the war in Ukraine has also made life more expensive in Europe, unemployment is a reality", he stressed.
"And you can't live in Europe without having a job, minimum wage conditions, so it's good not to venture out, because later the suffering will be greater, this is the message that we pass on so that people create awareness of reality", he stressed.
Armando Pio Alberto said that there were also other mechanisms of action, which he did not specify, stressing that the coordination of the Angolan caravan had to be done internally: "We are looking to minimize (the risk of flight)".
"We hear so much over there, so according to what we hear, we adjust to see if we can minimize it", he pointed out.
At least 1518 Angolans, residing in Angola and in the diaspora, are already registered to participate in WYD Lisbon 2023 and 518 pilgrims are expected to embark from Luanda for this meeting with Pope Francis.
According to the priest, the Angolan caravan, which will be led by the bishop of Cabinda and CEAST spokesman, Belmiro Chissengueti, will depart on the 25th and 26th of this month of July for Lisbon, embarking before a sending mass.
WYD Lisbon 2023 takes place between the 1st and 6th of August, with the main initiatives taking place in Lisbon, in Parque Eduardo VII, in the Belém area and in Parque Tejo (north of Parque das Nações and on land belonging to the Lisbon councils and Loures).
