The organizers of the World Youth Day (WYD) Lisbon 2023 presented the design of the main altar where Pope Francis will preside over the central Masses. The main events also will take place here in Portugal from August 1 to 6.
Through their social networks, the WYD organizers shared the design of what will be “the stage-altar, located in Parque Eduardo VII, where the Opening Eucharist will be celebrated, the welcome to Pope Francis, and the Via Crucis”.
The work has been designed by the architect João Matos. It will be 40 meters wide and 24 meters high, with a total area of 430 square meters.
The altar will have a cross, an image of the Virgin Mary, and will be “adorned with natural elements.”
The organizers also recall that in 1982, two years before establishing the World Youth Days in 1984, Pope Saint John Paul II celebrated a Mass with half a million young Portuguese right there, in Eduardo VII Park.
Although “the meaning” of the design and the elements of the altar has not yet been revealed, the organizers specify that what they have shared “is a digital recreation of what is only the structure.”
“The use of white is general in all the altars-stages for the possible use of projections and lighting”, they add.
In a video published this Tuesday, Pope Francis assured that the doctor has authorized him to attend and that “he is already prepared.” This is after the abdominal operation to which he underwent at the beginning of this month June.