“None of this dimension and none of this importance,” told Fernando Medina, in Panama City, where today the Vatican, at the closing of WYD, announced that Lisbon is the next host of the biggest event organized by the Catholic Church.
The president of the municipality said that the House will now “have a very great job“, together with “the diocese, with groups, with young people, with companies, with associations“, with all those who will “do Lisbon a great capital in 2022 “.
Fernando Medina assured that the Portuguese capital will make the “necessary investments” to materialize the WYD in 2022.
“We will make the necessary investments to this organization and there will also remain a brand in the city of this event that lasts over time, that is what we will do,” he said.
Asked about the costs that such an initiative, considered the largest in the Catholic Church, may have in the municipality, Fernando Medina emphasized that WYDs have, “above all, a symbolic impact and a social, citizenship and political impact that does not have possible financial accounting “.
“Now we will do, together with the organization, an event of great quality, capable of preparing the city for this host,” he said.
For the mayor of Lisbon, WYDs are “an event different from all others, in which it takes a very large social mobilization of families to welcome young people” so that it “works well“.
Fernando Medina said it was “very exciting to be able to have Lisbon as a place to host WYD, a time that will gather hundreds of thousands, if not millions of young people from all over the world“, who will meet in the Portuguese capital “in their faith , but also in their sense of humanity, in their spirit of meeting, of meeting, of reflection, of sharing. ”
“[Youth who] will come together with a very clear intention and with a very clear message that is what Pope Francisco seeks to convey, of peace, of tolerance, of respect for the environment,” said Fernando Medina, adding that ” very well with the values that Lisbon today seeks to transmit and value to the world, an open city, a tolerant city, a city that welcomes everyone well. ”
WYD, considered the greatest event of the Catholic Church, is a gathering of young people from around the world with the pope in a festive, religious and cultural atmosphere.
At WYD in Madrid in 2011, the organization estimated that the event would cost 50 million euros, noting that young people would leave the Spanish capital twice as much during their stay in the city.
Of the total cost, about 70% would be taken over by the pilgrims themselves, with the remainder coming from donations from companies, including the largest in Spain.
Another part would come from direct donations of people and mechanisms such as sending ‘SMS’.
At the time, the Spanish Federation of Associations of Travel Agencies estimated that the Madrid hotel and tourism sector would have a daily impact of 30 million euros.
From the headquarters of the European Capital of Culture in 1994 to the world exhibition in 1998 (Expo’98) or more recently the summit of technology and entrepreneurship Web Summit, the Portuguese capital has been the scene of several initiatives that have put to the test its capacity organization.
Before, in May 1982, Lisbon received Pope John Paul II (1920-2005), who presided over a camp mass in the Park Eduardo VII.
Nine years later, in May 1991, John Paul II returned to Portugal and again included the Portuguese capital on the journey, celebrating a mass at the Restelo stadium.
In May 2010, during his only visit to Portugal, Benedict XVI prayed a mass in Praça do Comércio, in Lisbon, which gathered around 500,000 people.
In the same year, in November, the Nato Summit, which was attended by several heads of state and government, was held in Lisbon.
Among other great events of which Lisbon was the highlight, in 2004, for the European football. The capital was one of the championship cities, receiving, the final. In 2014 it was the turn of the Champions League final between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.
More recently, in 2016, Lisbon hosted the Web Summit, which is repeated in 2017 and 2018. The technology and entrepreneurship summit will remain for another ten years in the city.
Also in 2018, Lisbon hosted the Eurovision Song Contest.
