The Portuguese government declared a one-year pardon for prisoners under the age of 30-years-old serving sentences of up to eight years, to mark the occasion of the upcoming World Youth Day in Lisbon.
Convicts within the same age group serving sentences of less than one year will be released. The law also pardons those who were not sentenced to jail, but who have been given fines of under 1,000 euros.
A government statement justified the decision with the Pope’s visit, saying that Francis’ “life and pontificate have been heavily marked by appeals to social rehabilitation of those who are at odds with penal law”.
The decree does exclude those guilty of particularly violent or serious crimes, such as homicide, infanticide, domestic violence, battery, kidnapping, forced marriage, money laundering, sexual abuse or incitement to hatred or violence.
Catholic organisations had already requested a general pardon or amnesty for prisoners in April, in light of the Pope’s visit.
Francis will be in Portugal from 2 to 6 August for World Youth Day. Over one-million people, mostly youths, are expected to come to the event, which begins officially on 1 August, and culminates in an all-night vigil and final mass with the Pope on 5-6 August.
The WYD foundation, which was created by the Patriarchate of Lisbon and is overseeing the organisation of the event, believes that everything will be ready on time, and sources tell The Tablet that Vatican envoys are impressed with how things are progressing.
There is some concern, however, with a lack of families volunteering to host pilgrims.
With just over a month to go before the first groups begin to arrive in Lisbon and surrounding cities, there are only enough families to host around 20,000 people, well below the target of 100,000. Though many are expected to volunteer closer to the date, organisers have been forced to find alternatives, recently asking public schools to receive pilgrims as well.
Both the Government and local city councils have been working with the Church to ensure that WYD is a success.
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