After the cities of Vienna and Paris, the next international Congress for the New Evangelization will be held in Lisbon from 5 to 13 November and have as its theme: “I have come so that you may have life!”. The Lisbon Congress was launched by the archdiocese of Paris, which hosted the event in 2005 and now hands over the torch to the Portuguese capital. The idea of promoting a European congress for evangelization in a different European capital each year was born at a meeting of four cardinals: Jean-Marie Lustiger (Paris), Christoph Schoenborn (Vienna), Godfried Danneels (Brussels) and José da Cruz Policarpo (Lisbon). Cardinal Erdö, archbishop of Budapest, later joined the project and in 2007 the Hungarian capital will host the event. The event has three objectives. They were spelt out by Patriarch Policarpo of Lisbon: “the annunciation of the mystery of life”, the concern to foster “the beauty and quality” of this annunciation, and the desire to “enter into dialogue with the city through art, culture and quality of debate, with the university and the youth world, with politicians, and with all those seeking the light”. The programme of the Congress planned for Lisbon is packed: in the mornings, a series of round tables and debates on the theme of life; in the afternoons, workshops to share experiences of preaching the Gospel in the most diversified contexts of the city. There will also be evenings in the parishes, concerts, prayer vigils and a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Fatima.
