One tree each planted at World Youth Day for Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Shared Tree planting at the Tropical Botanical Garden: "This is a ceremony full of meaning"

On 2 August, at the Tropical Botanical Garden of the University of Lisbon, a ceremony took place to plant six trees associated with six major religious families: Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

In addition to representatives of the various religious families, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal Manuel Clemente, were present, as well as civil authorities, namely the Minister of State and Parliamentary Affairs, Ana Catarina Mendes, representing the Government, the Councillor for Culture of the Lisbon City Council, Diogo Moura, and the Ambassador of Israel, Dor Shapira, who offered the olive trees from Jerusalem.

For the Rector, this is an important moment, since these plants will evoke, for many years, Francis' call to care for nature, fraternity, universality and peaceful coexistence between religions. "This is a meaningful ceremony. This moment is a gesture of peace, concord and dialogue," he said.

Father Peter Stilwell, responsible for the Interreligious Dialogue of the Patriarchate of Lisbon and World Youth Day (WYD) 2023, and Cardinal-Patriarch Manuel Clemente, also made a point of emphasising the importance of the ceremony, wishing that these trees will remind us of the fraternity between religions for many years to come.

On behalf of the various religious families present, the representative of the Islamic religious family, Khalid Jamal, took the opportunity to reiterate that "it is with great joy that we come together in this week that is so special for us, when all eyes are on Lisbon and God will be spoken of in the public sphere, in an initiative that connects us to our mother nature, which symbolically represents the bonds of union and fraternity that unite us all, as believers and as human beings above all."

In the Tropical Botanical Garden, as part of WYD 2023, the exhibition "Symbolism of plants from the Bible and other sacred books" is open to the public, sponsored and organised by the WYD 2023 Mission Group of the Government of Portugal, and prepared by a team of researchers from the University of Lisbon.

Also within the scope of World Youth Day 2023, the book "Plants of the Bible in the Belém Gardens in Lisbon" was published, which is the result of collaboration between the WYD 2023 Mission Group and an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Lisbon.

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