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Exhaustion, budget worries 'all worth it' for Filipino pilgrims in World Youth Day

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Christina Quiambao, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Filipino pilgrims from the Episcopal Commission on Youth Delegation for the World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. Christina Quiambao, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/08/09/world-youth-day-08092023.jpg"/><figcaption>Filipino pilgrims from the Episcopal Commission on Youth Delegation for the World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. <em>Christina Quiambao, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p><br/> LISBON, Portugal — Exhausting travel and financial worries were &quot;all worth it&quot; for Filipinos who joined Pope Francis and some 1.5 million people in the World Youth Day (WYD) here, an international jamboree of Catholic youth that wrapped up this week. </p><p>Timothy John Aller, a Filipino and first-time WYD pilgrim, was among 30 Filipinos who initially got their visa application due to insufficient funds. This prevented him from participating in pre-WYD activities such as Days in the Diocese. </p><p>But a week before the WYD, he and other pilgrims received a notice from the embassy that their appeal for reconsideration was granted, allowing Aller to join the festival&#x27;s main activities from Aug. 1 to 6, 2023. </p><p>“I shed a tear, I really cried for that second chance,” Aller told ABS-CBN News. </p><p>“My heart is overflowing... We really felt how festive and overwhelming the love is from the welcoming team and the ones who accommodated us,” he said. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/07/23/23/over-900-pinoys-gear-up-for-world-youth-day-after-covid">Over 900 Filipinos gear up for World Youth Day after COVID</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2744655" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Bianca Palangan, another Filipino, said she endured a 15-kilometer walk to Campo Da Graca, the venue of an open-air mass that Pope Francis celebrated on Sunday. </p><p>This was the 86-year-old Catholic leader&#x27;s first foreign trip since his hernia surgery in June. <br/> </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/08/06/23/pope-winds-up-portugal-visit-with-big-outdoor-mass">Pope Francis winds up Portugal visit with big outdoor Mass</a></li></ul><p>On August 5, Palangan&#x27;s group took 10 hours to walk to the venue of the Pope&#x27;s mass, as the temperature in Lisbon reached 38 degrees Celsius. </p><p>“Hindi siya madali, talagang babad ka sa araw,” Palangan said. “Noong una parang never-ending ‘yung feeling kasi parang hindi natatapos yung lakaran pero...siguro pinanghahawakan ko lang ‘yung ‘vale la pena’, it’s all worth it.”</p><p>(It was not easy, we were. exposed to the sun for hours. At first I thought the walk would never end. But I held on to the saying &#x27;vale la pena&#x27;, it&#x27;s all worth it.)</p><p>“For me, kung ‘yun ’yung way para ma-experience ko si Lord, para ma-encounter ko siya sa pilgrimage na ito, I will do it, gagawin ko ulit siya,” she said. </p><p>(If the Lord has a way for me to experience this, encounter Him through this pilgrimage, I will do it again.)</p><p>About a thousand pilgrims joined the Philippine delegation for WYD, excluding Filipinos from other countries such as Australia, United States, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates, among others. </p><p>The next WYD will be held in <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/08/06/23/south-korea-will-hold-next-catholic-youth-festival-pope">Seoul, South Korea</a> in 2027, Pope Francis said. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/03/23/filipino-band-rocks-world-youth-day-stage">Meet the Filipino band that rocked World Youth Day stage</a></li></ul><p>World Youth Day, created in 1986 by John Paul II, is the largest Catholic gathering in the world and features a wide range of events, including concerts and prayer sessions.</p><p>This edition, initially scheduled for August 2022 but postponed because of the pandemic, is the fourth for Francis after Rio de Janeiro in 2013, Krakow in 2016 and Panama City in 2019.</p><p>It comes as Francis attempts to galvanise young Catholics at a time when secularism and priest pedophilia scandals cause some to abandon pews in Europe.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/08/03/23/pope-says-anguished-cry-of-abuse-victims-must-be-heard">Pope says &#x27;anguished cry&#x27; of abuse victims must be heard</a></li></ul><div><strong>— With a report from Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2746115" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Exhausting travel and financial worries were 'all worth it' for Filipinos who joined Pope Francis and some 1.5 million people in the World Youth Day. 

Exhaustion, budget worries 'all worth it' for Filipino pilgrims in World Youth Day

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Exhaustion, budget worries 'all worth it' for Filipino pilgrims in World Youth Day

Christina Quiambao,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 09, 2023 10:18 AM PHT

Read More:

World Youth Day

Filipino

pilgrims

Pope Francis

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religion

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