We want to meet at WYD Lisbon 2023 as a Claretian Family to:

1. Be grateful for our own missionary tradition stemming from the life of Claret, united to the great evangelizing mission of the Church.

The Pope chose Lisbon, Portugal, for the next World Youth Day in 2023:

"From there, in the 15th and 16th centuries, numerous young people, many of them missionaries, set out for unknown lands, also to share their experience of Jesus with other peoples and nations" (Pope Francis, Message for the XXV WYD).

2. Feel and celebrate that we are part of a global community enriched by the diversity of cultures, ways of life, and expressions of faith.

Addressing young people in particular, challenging them to be courageous missionaries. The Pope writes in the Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit: "Where does Jesus send us? There are no frontiers, there are no limits: he sends us to everyone. The Gospel is not for some but for all" (CV 177).

3. Discover the Risen Jesus as the One who comes into our life and transforms it.

"If you have lost your inner vigour, your dreams, your enthusiasm, your hope and your generosity, Jesus appears before you as he appeared before the widow's dead son, and with all his power as the Risen One the Lord exhorts you: "Young man, I say to you, arise! (Lk 7,14)" VC 20.

4. Generate spaces of communication that go beyond superficiality and that promote a true encounter with God, nature and others.

"Today, there is often "connection" but no communication. In a culture that wants young people isolated and withdrawn into virtual worlds, let us circulate this word of Jesus: "Arise". "Arise" also means "dream", "risk", "commit to change the world", reignite your desires, contemplate the sky, the stars, the world around you. "Stand up and be what you are" (Pope Francis, Message for the XXV WYD).

5. Respond generously like Mary to Jesus’ call for us.

Mary of Nazareth is the great figure of the Christian journey, who teaches us to say yes to God. She was the protagonist of the last WYD and will also be the protagonist in Lisbon. In the Visitation, the action of getting up presents Mary simultaneously as a woman of charity and as a missionary woman (WYD 2023).

6. Reaffirm our identity as young people who walk together in the style of Claret.

"ClaretWay is a pastoral structure of the Claretian Family, which links young people, aged 18-30, in a worldwide network of communities wither here other and with the leaders of the Vincentian Youth Program in their respective communities (Founding Document, nº 2.2).