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Junaid Javed, a Catholic living in Pakistan, was looking forward to his appointment to collect a visa to travel to World Youth Day – WYD – with his wife, Sunaina.
But to his dismay, the Portuguese embassy returned his passport without a visa July 24, making him one of a rising number of people prevented from travelling to Lisbon for the world’s largest Catholic youth event.
Along with his passport, Javed received a Portuguese form with a box ticked indicating that the authorities considered the reasons for the trip unreliable.
In other words, they were not convinced he would return home after the Aug. 1-6 gathering.
In a video sent to The Pillar July 26, Javed said that his wife had dreamed of receiving a blessing from Pope Francis as the couple married in 2017 but are yet to have children.
“She said that if we get the blessing from the pope, and we will see the pope, maybe God will bless us,” the 32-year-old from the city of Sargodha said.
“She has faith that God will bless us.”
Javed explained that after hearing about World Youth Day, the couple gathered all the documents required for a visa application, despite the difficulty of doing so.
Visa decisions are made by representatives of the Portuguese government and are made separately from the registration process for WYD, which the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation oversees.
Portugal, a member of the European Union and part of the border-free Schengen Area, has reinstated documentary border controls until the end of WYD, “to safeguard possible threats to public order and internal security” associated with a papal visit. Pope Francis is due to visit the country on Aug. 2-6.
Pilgrims have overstayed their visas at previous WYDs.
Australian media reported that out of the 110,000 people who attended WYD in Sydney in July 2008, 550 did not return home.
By September 2019, 280 pilgrims remained “on the run.” Most were from South Pacific countries including Tonga, Fiji and Samoa, with the remainder from India, Pakistan, and Vietnam.
Ahead of WYD in Madrid in 2011, the Spanish authorities suspended visas from Pakistan.
“Many people from this country have tried to stay in Europe after past WYD celebrations as illegal immigrants, that’s why the Spanish government has suspended the granting of visas,” a spokesman for the event’s organizers said at the time.
WYD Lisbon 2023’s official website says that the meeting is “aimed at pilgrims from all over the world between the ages of 14 and 30, but pilgrims of other ages are welcome to register.”
It also explains that “it is the responsibility of each WYD participant to obtain a visa.”
Each person who registers receives a personalised letter of confirmation, which is then signed by their diocesan bishop and forms the basis for their visa application.
Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi signed Javed’s registration document.
In March, WYD organizers acknowledged that a group of 10 people with whom Javed and his wife intended to travel had paid the almost $2,500 contribution required for a package including accommodation, meals, transport, insurance, and a pilgrim kit.
The group also donated more than $100 to a solidarity fund that covers the participation costs for “young people coming from less fortunate parts of the world.”
“We provided all the documents as they required, but they didn’t issue us a visa,” Javed said.
“My question is why they didn’t issue us a visa. Because we are poor?”
Portugal’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pakistan was named the world’s seventh most difficult country in which to be a Christian by the advocacy group Open Doors in its World Watch List 2023.
The organisation said that the nation’s Christians — who comprise around 1.8 percent of the almost 250 million population — “are considered second-class citizens and face discrimination in every aspect of life.”
Javed, who has struggled financially since the coronavirus crisis, told The Pillar that he had two jobs, bringing in an income of around $90 a month.
He said he had heard that a few applicants from Pakistan with stable, well-paying jobs had received visas.
“We don’t have much money … So that’s why they didn’t give us a visa. So is this event for rich people only? And what about the poor, what about us?” he asked.
“And if they want to do this with us, they should mention on the website that World Youth Day is for rich people only, so the poor people can’t apply and can’t waste their money and their time, their emotions.” Read more
- Luke Coppen is The Pillar’s Senior Correspondent. He edited the U.K. Catholic Herald from 2004 to 2020 and was Europe editor of the Catholic News Agency from 2020 to 2022.
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