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The thousands of pilgrims who will participate in WYD in Lisbon next August will have 150 confessionals at the ready so they can receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They will be set up in the "Park of Forgiveness."
The structures are being built by inmates from the prisons of Coimbra, Paços de Ferreira, and Porto, in Portugal.
The initiative is a collaboration between the General Directorate of Reintegration and Prison Services and the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation.
In each confessional, a priest will be available to welcome and listen to the young pilgrims in different languages so they can experience the love and mercy of God through the sacrament of Reconciliation.
The confessionals are being built with sustainable materials and are designed to welcome people with reduced mobility. For example, the benches will be removable to allow room for wheelchairs.
The structure resembles an open house and is reminiscent of the typical houses in some Portuguese regions. The interior reveals a sober cross and a stylized segment of a rosary.
The Forgiveness Park will be in operation from August 1 to 4, 2023, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
