Pope Francis plans to visit Brazil this July for Catholic youth festival

KARACHI: Pope Francis, the Catholic Church’s first Latin American leader, announced during his Psalm Sunday that he will be visiting Brazil in July for the Catholic youth festival.

According to sources, the 76-year-old will attend a Catholic youth gathering in Rio de Janeiro, saying Mass on Copacabana beach as well as praying at the Christ the Redeemer statue, where the festival is expected to attract thousands of young Catholics from around the world.

The upcoming youth gathering will be a “sign of faith for the whole world”. Reportedly, Pope Francis has decided to modify some traditional Vatican Holy Week observances. He would pay a visit to prison for young offenders in the Roman suburb, where he is going to wash the feet of 12 young prisioners.

Previously, the ceremony was performed by the Pope in Rome’s Cathedral of Saint John Lateran, with priests symbolizing the 12 apostles.