“In July, we will be here for the inauguration by Pope Francis on the Lisbon side, but both territories, including Loures, are part of the park. In fact, for the first time, with the bridge over the Trancão River, we are connected. For the first time, people cross from one side to the other, thus proving total unity,” stated Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas (PSD).
The Lisbon mayor spoke during the inauguration of the extension of bus route 731 of the municipal company Carris. The route, which starts from Av. José Malhoa, has been extended to the neighboring municipality of Loures, now reaching Sacavém instead of ending at Portela.
Alongside the Mayor of Loures, Ricardo Leão (PS), social democrat Carlos Moedas mentioned ongoing dialogue to coordinate a joint inauguration of the Parque Papa Francisco between both municipalities, but scheduling conflicts prevented this.
Situated on lands belonging to the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures, covering approximately 100 hectares, Parque Papa Francisco, previously called Parque Tejo, was developed by transforming a landfill, the Beirolas sanitary landfill, into a green park. This park was one of the venues for the World Youth Day (WYD) in August 2023, which featured Pope Francis and attracted around 1.5 million people.
The Loures Municipality is inaugurating the area of Parque Papa Francisco within its jurisdiction today, with a solemn blessing scheduled by the Patriarch of Lisbon, Rui Valério, in the presence of Cardinal Américo Aguiar, president of the WYD Foundation during the Catholic event.
The ceremony marks the start of the Loures Festivities and will be followed in the evening by a free concert by singer Tony Carreira at 22:00, as well as the show “Francisco, everyone together in the common house,” by Artelier? By TNR.
Although the inauguration of Parque Papa Francisco is marked by two separate events, one in Loures and another in Lisbon, the Lisbon mayor assured, “there is no division, there is unity.”
“All united in the name of a man who changed the world, who inspired us, and who was with us,” Carlos Moedas emphasized, referring to Pope Francis.
“We will have two events because I believe it is deserved. Pope Francis deserves it, and Parque Papa Francisco is a very large park. There are 70 football fields on the Loures side (70 hectares) and 30 football fields (30 hectares) in size on the Lisbon side,” the Lisbon mayor explained, highlighting the connection between the two municipalities.
Likewise, the Mayor of Loures assured that “there is no disunity [between the two municipalities], quite the opposite,” explaining that the reason a joint inauguration with Lisbon was not possible is due to a major biker gathering scheduled for their space next weekend.
“And we are starting the month of Loures municipality celebrations; therefore, there was no other date than this one,” stated Ricardo Leão.
Highlighting that Loures and Lisbon are “always working together,” the PS mayor pointed out that naming Parque Tejo after Pope Francis was coordinated between the two municipalities “to create a unique park.”
“I want to emphasize that there are mayors in this country who put people first, above political parties,” noted socialist Ricardo Leão, referring to the good cooperation with social democrat Carlos Moedas, with whom he has worked together, stressing that “the main interest” as city leaders is to serve the people.
