"As for the possibility of many young people fleeing, well, it is an eventuality, we did our part, we raised awareness, we organized the visas based on the principle that everyone acted in good faith", said this Friday the Angolan bishop Belmiro Chissengueti, coordinator of the Angolan caravan to WYD 2023.
According to the prelate, who was speaking this Friday at a press conference, "the good faith" of the approximately 518 young people/pilgrims who leave Angola for Portugal, is what leads the organization to "hope" that they will return to the country, after the meeting with Pope Francis.
"But, [fleeing] is in fact a risk present on all these occasions", admitted the Catholic bishop, referring that the risk of fleeing had already disappeared when Angola had economic stability, but in recent times it remains evident.
"And, in recent times, each of us feels every week a friend saying goodbye, and therefore it is an eventuality, but if someone stays it is not because the organization has indicated this path", replied Belmiro Chissengeti to journalists.
At least 1518 young Angolans, residing in Angola and in the diaspora, are officially registered for WYD Lisbon 2023, with 518 participants expected to travel from Angola to Portugal.
The also president of the Episcopal Commission for Youth Pastoral of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé (CEAST) reported that the Angolan caravan, divided into two delegations, will embark next week.
"We are ready to go, we will have two large delegations, that official delegation from CEAST with 317 elements and the delegation from the archdioceses of Luanda and Lubango that are around 171 delegates", he stressed.
The delegation from the archdioceses of Luanda and Lubango will depart next Monday, after the sending mass scheduled for Sunday (July 23) and then the official CEAST delegation will follow.
Both Angolan delegations will hold pre-journeys in the Portuguese dioceses of Leiria, for the official CEAST delegation, and the other, from the archdioceses of Luanda and Lubango, from Braga.
Asked about the conditions of accommodation and logistics of the Angolan caravan, the Catholic bishop said that young people are going to the journey as pilgrims and will be in institutions made available by the organization of the event.
"We will be in schools, colleges, public offices and each pilgrim must take his sleeping bag and I believe that no one will die of hunger", he shot.
Belmiro Chissengueti, also CEAST spokesperson, recalled that Angola participates in WYD since 1989 and has been the largest African delegation in the event, which he considers to be a space of faith and exchange of many cultures.
The days "are also spaces where the catholicity and universality of the Catholic Church is known", he stressed.
He also thanked the Government, which helped sponsor the trip of several young people, the Ministry of Transport, which made contacts with the carrier TAAG possible, the Migration and Foreigners Service, for facilitating passports, the Portuguese Embassy in Angola and the Portuguese consulates in Luanda and Benguela for "facilitating visas".
The official delegation of the Angolan Government to WYD Lisbon 2023 will be headed by the Secretary of State for Youth of Angola.
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 councils of Lisbon and Loures).
