Pope Francis urged Europe to act as a "bridge and peacemaker" to end the war in Ukraine on Wednesday, as he opened a five-day visit to Portugal for a major Catholic youth festival.
The 86-year-old pontiff was welcomed with military honours in Lisbon, where one million pilgrims from across the world are expected to take part in World Youth Day festivities.
The event -- a week of religious, cultural and festive events held about every three years in a different city -- comes as the Church reflects on its future and grapples with priest paedophilia scandals.
During the first speech of his visit, the pope said Europe should ask itself where it was heading if it is "not showing the world paths of peace, creative ways for bringing an end to the war in Ukraine'?"
"For the world needs Europe, the true Europe. It needs Europe's role as a bridge and peacemaker," he added in his address to officials and diplomats at Lisbon's riverside Belem Cultural Centre.
The pope, who is in increasingly fragile health and now uses a wheelchair or walking stick to get around, then headed to the Holy See's diplomatic mission in Lisbon where he will be staying.
Worshippers shrieked as Francis passed by in his wheelchair, reaching out to touch his white cassock and snap a photo with their cellphones.
- 'Pope of love' -
Francis underwent major abdominal surgery just two months ago, but that did not stop his 42nd trip abroad, an event-packed visit with 11 speeches and around 20 meetings scheduled.
"I will come back rejuvenated" to Rome, Francis told reporters in Italian aboard the plane.
The Argentine Jesuit, whose direct and spontaneous style has proved highly popular with young people, is expected to address youth-focused themes, from ecology and social justice to the war in Ukraine.
During his papacy, Francis has tried to create a more compassionate church, reaching out to the gay community and talking frankly to youngsters about abortion, divorce and gender identity.
"He is the pope of love. He loves the people and he has a lot of mercy," Ada Obi Anaenugwu, a 29-year-old pharmacist from Nigeria, told AFP.
"He makes us all feel like we are his children. And we are. This is why everybody loves the pope," she added.
With under two months to go before a global gathering in Rome on the future of the Church, the festival also serves as a barometer of young Catholics' opinions on hot-button issues.
Francis has tentatively outlined potential reforms to the Church during his papacy, including on the place of LGBTQ people and women, and whether priests can marry.
The pope, who was elected by his peers in 2013, will meet with clergy on Wednesday afternoon at the vast Jeronimos Monastery which is crowned by an elaborate medley of statues.
- Abuse report -
He may talk about the clerical child sex abuse scandal in Portugal, which was the subject of a shock report published in February by a commission of independent experts.
It found "at least" 4,815 children were sexually abused by clergy members in the country -- mostly priests -- since 1950, and the crimes were "systemically" hushed up by Portugal's church hierarchy.
Francis, who is in Portugal until Sunday, is expected to meet abuse victims privately.
A group representing victims has put up three large billboards in Lisbon to draw attention the sexual abuse by the clergy close to places the pope will visit.
They read: "4,800+ children abused by the Catholic Church in Portugal".
World Youth Day, created in 1986 by John Paul II, is the largest Catholic gathering in the world and will feature a wide range of events, including concerts and prayer sessions.
This edition, initially scheduled for August 2022 but postponed because of the pandemic, will be the fourth for Francis after Rio de Janeiro in 2013, Krakow in 2016 and Panama in 2019.
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