At the entrance of the Lisbon Cathedral, before the commencement of a mass honoring Pope Francis, Carlos Moedas emphasized the Pope’s legacy and his visit to the city during the World Youth Day in 2023. Subsequently, the mayor wishes to name a park after the Pope “to honor his memory.”
“Those six days, in a way, did not leave Lisbon the same. They left a Lisbon full of hope, with the youth and the concerns of this Pope,” he stated.
The Patriarch of Lisbon, Rui Valério, immediately welcomed the initiative by the Mayor of Lisbon, expressing that he hopes “it serves as a call to us all on the urgency of fraternity.”
“I know the area well, and may it be a living memory for us of the responsibilities we have towards ecology. Pope Francis spoke of an integral ecology, and note, there is no more suitable place to signify this ecological wholeness than Parque Tejo,” added the patriarch.
For Carlos Moedas, “that moment when Pope Francis was on the plane and said those were the best World Youth Days he had participated in, stays in the heart.”
The mayor confessed he attended the homage mass to thank the Pope for all he has done for the world, “but also for the confidence he brought to the people of Lisbon,”
“We were capable of doing what we never imagined, of hosting one and a half million people here in Lisbon with the strength he brought us,” Carlos Moedas added.
[News updated at 00:11]
