WYD “opportunity to make our country known”: Youth Official in São Tomé and Príncipe

The representative of the Youth Ministry in the Diocese of São Tomé and Príncipe explained that the country is having a significant representation at the WYD 2023 in Lisbon because “Portugal is a much closer country, which is familiar, shares the same language, and represents less participation costs compared to countries that hosted previous events.”

Asked about the possibility of youth taking advantage of the WYD “to emigrate”, Ms. Cabinda said the Diocese followed all the guidelines during the registration process.

“We can't say that people will take advantage of this event to emigrate because we followed the rules of the Church, the requirements were determined, the people met those requirements and we proceeded to register them. If they have this intention we can't determine,” she said.

Among the requirements, the youth official further said, “youth must be practicing Catholics, who are part of Church activities and groups. They have to be prepared spiritually so that we can deal with the diversity that we may encounter with other cultures.”  

Ms. Cabinda thanked the Embassy of the Republic of Portugal in São Tomé and Príncipe for facilitating the “visa process” for WYD delegates. 

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“They were open and available to support us in the whole visa process, they presented the requirements that we had to meet for this application and we were able to meet them, and they even gave us visa exemption for all pilgrims,” she said in reference to Portuguese Embassy in São Tomé and Príncipe.

According to the spokesperson for the Youth Ministry, pilgrims are expected to leave São Tomé and Príncipe for Lisbon between July 22 and July 31.

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.