Bishop Barry C. Knestout made his second trip to World Youth Day (WYD), gathering with pilgrims from around the world – including dozens who traveled from the Diocese of Richmond – during the global encounter with Pope Francis Aug. 1-6 in Lisbon, Portugal.
“This was very meaningful for me, because it strengthens the relationship I have as a bishop with the people of this diocese – especially with young people who are in our colleges and part of young adult groups throughout the diocese,” said Bishop Knestout, sharing a retrospective look at WYD a few days after returning home.
“I wanted that time, and I’m grateful I had it,” added the bishop. “It was a beautiful occasion to accompany young people in their own lives, and to be able to walk with them in a spiritual context.”
Bishop Knestout said before he arrived in Portugal, he was worried he might not be able to connect with local pilgrims, knowing he would be staying in a different hotel and assigned a slightly different schedule because he was serving as a bishop. He said he was determined to spend time with members of his diocese both in catechetical sessions and informal gatherings.
“If you’re looking for those grace-filled moments to encounter your own people, there are ways of making that happen,” said the bishop. “That’s why I chose to walk with them for those miles before the vigil.”
Bishop Knestout was referring to the massive pilgrimage walk on Saturday – the culmination of the weekday events of WYD. He said walking with the diocesan group was “the standout moment of the pilgrimage for me.”
“It’s meant to be a pilgrimage experience, which means there are some challenges and uncertainties, and a bit of sacrifice,” recounted the bishop. “It was hot, the sun was bearing down, and it was several miles of walking through very large, crushing crowds.”
“It was not easy – our group was trying to stick together and kept pausing to regroup,” he added. “I was actually separated from our group for a short time after meeting the archbishop of Canberra, Australia, and talking to him. There were nice, casual encounters with people from all over the world.”
Bishop Knestout said he was struck by the “great spirit of joy among everyone. There was a lot of spontaneous singing and chants among different groups from around the world.”
The bishop said the uncertainty of walking in such a large crowd and discomfort of the conditions led to a better pilgrimage experience. “You have to trust more in the providential care of the Lord to get you where you need to go and back again,” he said.
“Spiritually, it’s a good experience because it does stretch you a bit in terms of faith and patience and all the virtues that we’re called to have since it is a pilgrimage,” the bishop added.
Actively listening
Just days before WYD began, Bishop Knestout learned he had been chosen to lead one of the “Rise Up” catechetical sessions, scheduled to take place Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of WYD’s weeklong schedule.
In addition to providing a short catechetical reflection at each session, bishops were encouraged to actively listen and engage in dialogues with the young faithful.
Bishop Knestout led a session on Thursday, Aug. 3, in São Mamede. The 18th century church was packed with all of the pilgrims representing our diocese, as well as pilgrims from other places. Many stood, while others sat on the floor in the aisles. The bishop was asked to focus on friendship, fellowship, and the environment, as expressed by Pope Francis in his two documents, “Fratelli Tutti” and “Laudato Si’.”
“There are relationships that have been established by God and creation … and the crowning of creation is the human person, created in relationship – Adam and Eve – we’re meant to live in a relationship with God, but that has been fractured by sin,” Bishop Knestout explained.
“The Holy Father’s reflections are meant to help us reflect on the practical ways we can remedy the damage done by sin,” he said, “so that our relationship with the environment and one another is one that is fully filled with grace and what God intends it to be.”
Bishop Knestout was the only bishop at Thursday’s Rise Up session; there were three bishops at the session he attended Wednesday and seven at Friday’s session. Since he was the lone bishop Thursday, he asked some of the priests from our diocese to help him with reflections, saying they did a “beautiful job.”
Bishop Knestout said he particularly enjoyed the Rise Up session he attended on Friday. The sessions Wednesday and Thursday required more active engagement, while he described Friday’s session as “more of a reflective prayer occasion and more focus on the Eucharist.”
Each bishop gave a short reflection on reconciliation and eucharistic adoration. Bishop Knestout said he used the imagery of the architectural details of the old church, which had fallen into some disrepair.
“We need to turn to the Lord and ask the carpenter to come when sinfulness in our own lives causes disrepair to our spiritual house, a temple of the Holy Spirit,” he told the pilgrims.
Humble power of Fátima
The weekend before WYD began, Bishop Knestout joined the diocesan delegation, led by the Office for Evangelization, on a pilgrimage to Fátima. It was the bishop’s first trip to Fátima, where Our Lady appeared to three young children back in 1917.
The bishop said the diocesan group visited the village where the three children lived and felt “a sense of being immersed in the local traditional piety of that time.”
He said, “I could see why Our Lady would visit them in this little village – she always seems to go to those humble settings and ask people who would not otherwise have any impact or influence – and ask them to have key roles in proclaiming and evangelizing.”
“This village was still very picturesque,” said the bishop, “and you got a feel for what these children’s lives were like when they encountered Our Lady and why they were selected – because of their simplicity of spirit, and their readiness to listen and follow through in a humble way without hesitation.”
Bishop Knestout said Our Lady of Fátima’s messages of hope, repentance, and power of the rosary are still inspiring a deeper faith among Catholics today.
Looking back on the entire pilgrimage, Bishop Knestout said it was “very fruitful in the spiritual dimension, because any pilgrimage, especially World Youth Day, is meant to test us and stretch us, so we can expand our whole spiritual life in that encounter and trust more deeply in the Lord’s care for us.”
Read more about the Diocese of Richmond at World Youth Day 2023:
Office for Evangelization leads official diocesan delegation to World Youth Day