Pope, arriving in Portugal, promises to ‘stir things up’
Pope Francis promised on Wednesday to continue to “stir things up” in the Catholic Church as he moves on with reforms and changes that could leave a lasting legacy.
Francis, starting a five-day trip to Portugal, landed at Lisbon’s military air base for a global gathering of young Catholics known as the World Youth Day, held every two or three years in a different city.
Francis’ trip is taking place in the shadow of Portugal’s huge clergy sexual abuse scandal and criticism of soaring costs for the event.
Speaking to reporters on the plane from Rome, Francis was reminded of when he urged young people at his first World Youth Day, in Brazil, to not be complacent in the Church but to make noise in order to make themselves heard and instil change.
“We will continue to stir things up,” he said.
Francis has enacted numerous changes in the Church since his election in 2013, sometimes upsetting conservatives as he has given women more roles and made it more welcoming and less judgmental towards some groups, including members of the LGBT community.
The 86-year-old pope is making his first trip since intestinal surgery in June and uses a wheelchair and cane.
Francis, who seemed in good form as he walked with the help of a cane among the reporters’ section of the plane, said he hoped to returned to Rome on Sunday “rejuvenated by his encounter with young people”.
It is the fourth such event Francis will preside over since he became pope.
His first stop in Portugal will be a welcoming ceremony hosted by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at the presidential Belem Palace.
In Lisbon, huge stages have been set up, screens installed and posters with Francis’ face plastered across the city.
The event in Portugal, which is about 80% Catholic, comes less than six months after a report by a Portuguese commission said at least 4,815 minors were sexually abused by clergy – mostly priests – over seven decades.
“There will be young people from all over the world and the reality (of abuse) is present in all continents,” said Filipa Almeida, 43, who was abused by a priest when she was 17.
“It’s a great opportunity for the Church to do something,” said Almeida, a co-founder of Coracao Silenciado (Silenced Heart) an association which helps victims.
Francis is expected to meet privately with abuse victims.
A huge billboard raising awareness of clergy sexual abuse was put up overnight in Lisbon hours before Francis’ arrival.
Some Portuguese have criticised the event’s costs in one of Western Europe’s poorest nations where millions are struggling to make ends meet due to low salaries, inflation and a housing crisis.
Francis will also visit Fatima, the town north of Lisbon where the Church believes that the Virgin Mary appeared to three poor shepherd children in 1917.