PANAMA, Friday, January 25, 2019 (WAFA) – A delegation of young Palestinian Christians Friday arrived to Panama to attend the World Youth Days (WYD).
Comprised of 43 Palestinian Christians from the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and Galilee, the delegation join more than 150,000 young Christian Catholic pilgrims from 155 countries attending the WYD Panama 2019.
The delegation is led by Father Bashar Fawadleh, the spiritual leader of the Palestinian Christian youth, Father Khaled Gammoh, a priest from the Latin Church of Zarqa, Jordan, and Father Toni Haddadin.
Commenting on the significance of attending WYD Panama 2019, Fawadleh said: “Through attending WYD Panama 2019, we will convey the suffering of the Palestinian people to the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims attending the event” and highlight the Palestinian people’s need for mercy.
Pope Francis arrived to Panama, a small country with a population of over four million 89 percent of which are Catholic, on January 23 to lead this mega-assembly of the world’s young Catholic Christians.
Vatican officials said the focus of the popes 26th foreign trip will be regional problems, migration, the fight against corruption and violence, and the role of women.
This is only the fifth WYD to be held on the American continents since late Pope John Paul II convened the first one in Rome in 1985. The other four were held in Buenos Aires (1987), Denver (1993), Toronto (2002) and Rio de Janeiro (2013).
K.F.
