Insane video: ‘Encountering Christ’ at World Youth Day

See it to believe it…

Insane Video: ‘Encountering Christ’ at World Youth Day

(YouTube screenshot)

Time and again we hear that one of the reasons for World Youth Day is to give the young an opportunity to ‘encounter Christ’.

This year’s ‘Catholic Woodstock’, as the secular press once nicknamed it, is being held in Lisbon, Portugal. It began on Tuesday, Aug. 1, and will conclude on Sunday, Aug. 6. Of course ‘Pope’ Francis is also scheduled to be there.

The official opening of World Youth Day yesterday took place with a Novus Ordo worship service celebrated by ‘Cardinal’ Manuel José Macário do Nascimento Clemente, who is the local patriarch there.

Preceding the Opening ‘Mass’ was a kind of welcome or warm-up show that used the same stage, albeit away from the ‘altar’.

Here is a 71-second video clip showing some of what went on there:

Words simply fail, but then a whole lot of commentary should not be needed here. This insanity is the result of decades of endless blather about the Faith being an “experience”, an “encounter” that must continually be “nurtured”.

The main performer in that video is Joe Melendrez. On his official web site we read: “Joe uses his skills to animate huge crowds of teens, and he continues to share these gifts at major youth rallies, conferences, and national events. Today, Joe Melendrez is a husband and father, as well as a natural MC, a dynamic musical performer, an inspiring speaker, and an expert retreat leader.”

A few things should perhaps be said about the stage that is being used for this World Youth Day at Eduardo VII Park in the Portuguese capital:

(YouTube screenshots)

First of all, it looks ugly. It is sterile and dull, and it is not clear what it is supposed to signify, if anything. It certainly does not inspire or edify. There is nothing remotely Catholic about it.

Secondly, the setup seems somewhat reminiscent of pagan pyramids or towers where human sacrifice was apparently offered to false gods:

Image: Shutterstock (Valery Shanin)

Image: Shutterstock (Matyas Rehak)

At the prior World Youth Day, which took place in Panama City in 2019, Francis and his concelebrating clergy wore vestments with a conspicuous decorative pattern that was virtually identical to what the FBI had identified as being the “boy lover” symbol used by pedophiles. This blog post and the following 5-minute video has details:

But whatever may or may not be going on, what is certain is that World Youth Day has nothing to do with promoting genuine Roman Catholicism.