São Paulo – A group of around 200 youths from Egypt and Lebanon is in the city of São Paulo for activities related to the World Youth Day. They should participate in an event promoted by the Catholic Church to take place starting on Tuesday (23), in Rio de Janeiro, to include the presence of pope Francis. The pope arrived in Brazil on Monday (22) afternoon.
Since last week, however, foreigners started arriving in different Brazilian cities for a missionary week. In São Paulo, the Arab youths walked along Paulista Avenue on Monday, carrying flags and crosses in their hands, singing Hallelujah.
The foreigners from Egypt and Lebanon are staying with families of the Santa Margarida Maria Parish, in Vila Mariana neighbourhood, and other youths from abroad were also received by other parishes in the city of São Paulo. According to Ana Paula Guimarães, a member of catholic group Neocatechumenal Way, who is accompanying the group as a volunteer, the purpose of the missionary week is evangelisation. The youths walk in the streets, singing, and stop at certain places, like squares, to tell their stories of faith.
The group from Egypt and Lebanon left at around 2:30 pm from Shopping Center Paulista and headed to the open area at the São Paulo Art Museum (Masp), where some pilgrims were scheduled to make statements. According to Guimarães, the statements in English would be translated into Portuguese. They got to São Paulo on Saturday night and on Wednesday (24) should accompany the mass of pope Francis at the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida, in the city of Aparecida, in the interior of the state of São Paulo. After that, the group will head to Rio de Janeiro, where World Youth Day events should continue until Sunday (28).
The Arabs participating in the event are from the Greco-Catholic and Maronite Churches. Both of these churches have the Pope as their supreme leader and respect his authority. The young Raymond Mefleh, 32, came from Beirut to see Francis. He says he is an admirer of the pope and says he likes him due to his capacity for communication and for his being among the people. Mefleh says that during the event he will decide whether on not he will become a Maronite priest. Mefleh works in a bookshop in the Lebanese capital.
Paula Khairallah, aged 31, also works at a bookshop in Beirut and said that she came to Brazil to see pope Francis, to participate in the peregrination and to “find Jesus through others”. “I believe that pope Francis should stimulate more youths to religion. We want youths to notice the importance of paying less attention to material things and appreciating religion and spirituality, creating roots in the church in several countries in the Middle East,” said Lebanese catechist Sleiman Abiaad, who is accompanying the group.
Parish Santa Margarida Maria received a total of 1,600 youths from different countries. The World Youth Day should attract around two million people to Brazil, according to estimates by the Ministry of Tourism. From the Arab world, apart from youths from Lebanon and Egypt, there will also be representatives from other countries, including Iraq.
*Translated by Mark Ament
