VMY ITALY | EXPERIENCE AT THE INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF YOUNG VINCENTIANS AND WORLD YOUTH DAY 2023

Hello, my name is Pierpaolo, I am 16 years old, and I am from Rome, Italy. This summer I participated in the EIJV, International Meeting of Vincentian Youth in Felgueiras, and then in the WYD, World Youth Day, in Lisbon. I got closer to the Vincentian world thanks to the service in which I participate every Sunday in St. Peter’s Square to help the homeless, and I began to attend the Lectio Divina given by Father Valerio of Trapani, which brought me closer and closer to St. Vincent and his charism.

My experience at the EIJV was really extraordinary. Being the only Italian boy, I had to adapt and thanks to my language skills I made many friends with people of different nationalities, for example, Spaniards and Americans, with whom we even exchanged objects to remind us of each other. Being alone made the experience better for me, because in reality I was never alone.

In fact, one of my best memories is the festival of countries, where I met so many cultures and danced with all my friends, now Spanish and of other nationalities.

On the other hand, participating in World Youth Day was an engaging journey of self-knowledge, also thanks to the different catecheses I attended, in groups, with new people who taught me to live life in a new light. I learned the importance of pain and how to face it, I learned to listen, to love and to always feel grateful for what I am and for what I have.

It was an experience that made me love the world more, but especially my country. Finally in Lisbon we met other groups of Italians, we started singing our national anthem, it was beautiful. It was beautiful to discover ourselves as brothers, even if we were complete strangers.

Pierpaolo Franceschini

VMY Italy