“You are a sign that a different world is possible,” Pope Leo XIV told over a million young people from 146 countries at Mass on Sunday morning. Held in the vast open-air venue of Tor Vergata on the outskirts of Rome, the Mass followed a festive prayer vigil in the same spot on Saturday evening, part of the Jubilee of Youth.
Speaking in Italian, English and Spanish, the pope drew sustained applause at the end of Mass when he told the congregation that “[i]n communion with Christ, our peace and hope for the world, we are closer than ever to young people who suffer the most serious evils, which are caused by other human beings. We are with the young people of Gaza, we are with the young people of Ukraine, with those of every land bloodied by war.”
Young people, he said, “are the sign that a different world is possible: a world of fraternity and friendship, where conflicts are not resolved with weapons but with dialogue.”
“Yes, with Christ it is possible,” he told them. “With his love, with his forgiveness and with the power of his Spirit. My dear friends, united to Jesus, like branches to the vine, you will bear much fruit. You will be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. You will be seeds of hope where you live, in your families, among your friends, at school, at work, and in sports. You will be seeds of hope with Christ, our hope.”
Pope Leo also drew prolonged applause when he remembered two young pilgrims, Maria Cobo Vergara, 20, from Spain and Pascal Rafiç, 18, from Egypt, “who passed away in these days.” Yesterday, he met and prayed with the pilgrims from Egypt.
The Saturday night vigil marked Leo’s first major encounter as pope with Gen Z and younger Catholics from all over the world, including some 3,500 from the United States. Some had labelled this encounter a “charisma test” for him before the event, and Leo, who has been pope for just over 80 days, easily passed.
A smiling, energized Leo showed a spontaneity largely hidden up to now as he drove in the popemobile among the cheering crowd for half an hour. At one stage, the 69-year-old pope caught a ball that was thrown to him.
Many at the vigil waved the flags of their home countries from around the world. Almost 70 percent of participants came from Europe, with the majority from Italy, but 30,000 came from Spain and tens of thousands from France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and even a small group from Jerusalem. Notwithstanding the distance, many also came from Asia, including 1,500 from Seoul, where the next World Youth Day will be held. Pilgrims were also present from Hong Kong and Macau, Japan, the Philippines and India.
Pilgrims had to wait for hours under the blazing sun before Pope Leo arrived around 8.30 p.m., and water cannons and misting trucks attempted to keep the crowd cool.
In a dialogue at the vigil, Pope Leo responded with deep spiritual reflections to questions from three young people: two young women from Mexico and Italy and a young man from the United States. Afterward he led them in adoration of the Eucharist, accompanied by hymns and prayers and a long period of profound silence.
The young people slept at the venue overnight and awakened to some rain this morning. At 9 a.m., Leo arrived aboard a white helicopter. He celebrated Mass together with 20 cardinals, 450 bishops and 7,000 priests, most of whom had accompanied these young “pilgrims of hope” for the Jubilee of Youth, and participated in festive events with them across the city in these past days.
“Open wide your hearts to allow him [Jesus] to enter, and to set out on this adventure with him towards eternity,” Pope Leo urged the congregation in his homily. The first Augustinian pope quoted extensively from the writings of St. Augustine in noting how the saint had found his way to God. He then said: “There is a burning question in our hearts, a need for truth that we cannot ignore, which leads us to ask ourselves: What is true happiness? What is the true meaning of life? What can free us from being trapped in meaninglessness, boredom and mediocrity?”
He reminded them: “We are not made for a life where everything is taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed through gift of self in love. This is why we continually aspire to something ‘more’ that no created reality can give us; we feel a deep and burning thirst that no drink in this world can satisfy.”
“Knowing this, let us not deceive our hearts by trying to satisfy them with cheap imitations! Let us rather listen to them! Let us turn this thirst into a step stool, like children who stand on tiptoe, in order to peer through the window of encounter with God. We will then find ourselves before him, who is waiting for us, knocking gently on the window of our soul.”
As he bade the congregation farewell at the end of Mass before taking the helicopter back to the Vatican, he invited them to join him for the next World Youth Day, in Seoul, Korea, from Aug. 3 to 8, 2027. They cheered and applauded, none louder than the South Koreans present.
