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WYD Volunteer to Africans in Portugal: Be a Light to your Peers back at Home

Fr. Pierre Paul Anani Dossekpli, a Togolese missionary Priest volunteering at the 2023 World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, Portugal. Credit: EWTN/Ursula Murua

By Jude Atemanke

Lisbon, 02 August, 2023 / 6:47 pm (ACI Africa).

A Togolese missionary Priest volunteering at the 2023 World Youth Day (WYD)  in Lisbon, Portugal has challenged Africans attending the event to “be a light” to their peers when they go back home.

In a Monday, July 31 interview with EWTN, Fr. Pierre Paul Anani Dossekpli urged young people from different African countries attending the WYD events to be open to receive the Holy Spirit, and later, to share their transformation with those who were not fortunate enough to be at the events.

The Catholic Priest wished that participants at the WYD “encounter Christ because after all these is a faith event and I really wish them to be open to the Holy Spirit for them to encounter Christ in their individual situation and for them to connect with Christ and connect with others.”

“I will really wish that they really have this faith experience so that they can go back to their place and be the light to the other youth who were not able to come here,” Fr. Anani said.

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The Togolese described his experience so far in the August 1-6 events as “life changing.”

He shared having experienced "a lot of learning; a lot of collaboration, a lot of discovery because we work with people from different nationalities, different continents.”

The 45-year-old member of the Society of African Missions (SMA) recounted his encounter with young people from various African countries, saying, “I have been in touch with the Togolese group. They are 40 including about nine volunteers working in different departments.”

Fr. Anani continued, “I have been touch with some Tanzanians I know that they are more than 30 people."

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On the possibility of Africa hosting the WYD, Fr. Anani said, “It is true it demands a lot of work but there are many countries in Africa who are also capable of doing the same thing as we see here.”

“It has not only been the problem of Portuguese. People have come from different countries, it is a Church event and the Church does not have a border,” the Togolese SMA Priest said. 

Ursula Murua contributed in the writing of this story

Jude Atemanke

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.

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