The pope has arrived in Portugal for a youth festival where over a million people are expected. It is the first such event since 2019.
Ednews informs via DW that the head of the Catholic Church landed in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon on Wednesday to take part in the first World Youth Day event since the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 1 million young people from over 200 countries were expected to show up to the global Catholic gathering.
The five-day-long event was launched by Pope Francis' predecessor to bring together young Catholics — teenagers and those in their early 20s — every two to three years. The last one took place in 2019.
Francis landed at the Figo Madura military air base on Wednesday morning, before heading to a welcoming ceremony hosted by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The 86-year-old pontiff's visit to Portugal is his first trip since undergoing intestinal surgery in June.
"I will come back rejuvenated" to Rome, Francis told reporters on the plane. He is planning to fly back on Sunday.