Filipina campus minister joins other youth for lunch with Pope Francis during WYD

A 33-year-old Filipina was among the young people who had lunch at the Apostolic Nunciature on August 4 with Pope Francis during the 2023 World Youth Day (WYD) held in Lisbon, Portugal.

"It really came as a big surprise for me," said the grateful Audrey Criscille Abatol, who hails from Cebu in the central Philippines.

She resigned from her work as a campus minister at a Jesuit-run school in the city of Mandaue and volunteered for this year’s WYD. She was one of over 10,000 volunteers for the international youth event.

The WYD is a triennial (every three years) youth gathering that aims "to promote peace, unity, and fraternity among peoples and nations around the world" through moments of prayer and catechesis, fun, reflections, and celebration.

Having lunch with the Pope had been a custom in the past years of the WYD, where young people from several different nationalities were selected. 

This year, the other youth volunteers, aged 24 to 34, came from Portugal (three), and then one each from Peru, the Philippines, the United States, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea, Palestine, and Colombia.

The meal time, where pasta, meat, and ice cream were also served, gave the young people the chance to ask the Pope some questions.

She claimed that the Holy Father's response to Abatol's query about how to be a good friend touched her.

"I was really touched by his answer. He said that joy is not taught, but shown, and that's what I will bring back with me from this meeting. He also spoke about the joy of the Gospel and the importance of acting in a way that inspires joy," she said.

All of them appreciated the Pope, whom they found to be cheerful, listening, and very willing to answer their questions about their realities.

Abatol, who served as WYD International Relations secretariat and since November last year has been active in the preparations for the WYD, has attended three WYDs, which were held in Brazil, Poland, and Panama.

She had admired Pope John Paul II, who was later canonized as a saint in 2013. He was in the Philippines during the sixth WYD in 1995, which had drawn the biggest crowd so far. 

Abatol was a short-term volunteer in WYD Rio 2013 and a pilgrim in WYD Krakow 2016 (with the Community of St. John-Cebu) and WYD Panama 2019 (with Corazon Puro), and an international long-term volunteer for this year’s WYD. She applied to be a volunteer through the event’s website.

She said she would always ask for the help of Mama Mary (including her intentions for the WYD), who had always inspired her to say yes to God. "I may have personal limitations, but there are no limits to where God sends me in every adventure with him," she said.

The next WYD will be in Korea in 2027. - Madonna T.  Virola