(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday tweeted his best wishes to World Youth Day
pilgrims, many of whom are en route or already arrived in the host city, Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. “Many of you have already arrived in Rio and many more are just arriving,”
he wrote via his @pontifex handle on the micro-blogging platform. He added, “We will
see one another there in only three days.” More than three hundred thousand people
are registered for the event, with organisers preparing for as many as two and a half
million visitors.
Fr. Michael Rogers, SJ is the coordinator of English-language
WYD initiatives for the Society of Jesus in the US and a member of the lead committee
for the international English-language welcome centre in Brazil, which will be the
hub of English-language catechesis and prayer during the first four days of WYD events,
starting Tuesday, July 22nd. Fr. Rogers, SJ, told Vatican Radio that host
city Rio de Janeiro is already beginning to feel the effects of the pilgrim swell.
“The city is already beginning to fill up, and you can see the green WYD pilgrim packs
everywhere,” he said, adding, “I think it is going to be a wonderful four days at
the centre and two days out in the field.” Listen to Chris Altieri’s extended conversation
with Fr. Michael Rogers, SJ: