Pope visits Marian shrine, entrusts WYD to Mary's care

Pilgrims receive a blessing from Pope Francis with statue of Our Lady of Aparecida

YouTube credit: CNS / Robert Duncan.



Catholic News Service reporter Cindy Wooden wrote that Pope Francis received a copy of the statue of Our Lady of Aparecida from Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis at a Mass in the Basilica of Aparecida. He then used it to give the final blessing to the people inside and to the crowds outside.

Comfortable in the presence of Mary and at a shrine that symbolizes one of his most important experiences as a member of the Latin American bishops' council, Pope Francis kicked off five days of intense activity with an act of devotion.

Visiting the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida July 24, the Pope entrusted World Youth Day to Mary's maternal protection. He challenged parents, priests, and other adult Catholics to give the young people things that the world, with all its wealth, cannot: faith and values.

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