Last November 4, an encounter was held in the Claret Auditorium, located in the Santuário Coração de Maria de Carvalhos (Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal), with the participation of about a hundred adolescents and young people who were present and lived the World Youth Day (WYD) in Claretian Family, being this the “first” WYD Claret Way. The encounter was organised by the Portuguese YVM Team and counted with the presence of some APJs and volunteers of PROCURA – Missões Claretianas.
The encounter was developed with the intention of facilitating face-to-face contact and a greater knowledge among all; to share the joy of belonging to the Claret Way Network; to thank the organisation of the WYD Claret Way in Carvalhos and the WYD 2023 in Lisbon, which counted on the visit of Pope Francis and which marked the young people with his presence and his messages; and to encourage each young person to walk together in the joy of following Jesus Christ, following the example of Fr. Claret.
In addition, the event was attended by numerous groups: acolytes from Pedroso, teenagers and young people from Monasterio-Pedroso, Areosa- Jovens Comprometidos, AJSM Sra. Monte-Pedroso, Colégio Internato Claret, Colégio Internato Carvalhos (CIC), Santa Marinha e Afonsim-Pedroso, de Tondela, de Carvalhos-Pedroso, or Grupo Saúde.
During the day, there were moments of sharing their experience by some of the young people who participated in WYD Lisbon 2023, animation with songs by the Claret Way WYD choral group and the projection of images and videos that recalled the experience of the Claret Way WYD in Carvalhos and Agualva. The activities concluded with a Flashmob of the WYD Lisbon 2023 hymn, “There’s a rush in the air”, with the choreography created for WYD Claret Way.
Fr. António Victor Amorim Portugal, coordinator of YVM in Portugal, thanked all the participants for their presence, with a special word of thanks to all the animators of the youth groups, and to all those who helped to prepare and organise the meeting. He also presented the upcoming activities of the YVM Programme for the year 2023-2024.
For his part, Fr. João Luís Escaleira Alves cmf, prefect of the YVM of the Province of Fatima, addressed a message of thanks to all the young people and animators present, and to the whole Claret Way global community, with a word of encouragement and hope. The event ended with a prayer of blessing and sending.
