VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV has encouraged young Catholics preparing to receive the sacrament of confirmation to ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of perseverance, warning that too many young people “disappear from the parish” after receiving the sacrament.

Speaking off the cuff to roughly 1,000 young pilgrims from the northern Italian Archdiocese of Genoa May 16, the pope said that the fullness of the Holy Spirit received at confirmation provides the strength “to live our faith in a world that so often seeks to lead us away from Jesus.”

“It is beautiful to receive this Sacrament, because the fullness of the Holy Spirit gives us this enthusiasm, this strength, this ability to follow Jesus Christ, to say ‘Yes’ to the Lord always, to have no fear of following Him courageously,” the pope said in the Vatican’s Hall of Blessings.

Pope Leo added that conferring confirmation is one of the greatest joys of a bishop’s ministry, but acknowledged that “there is another aspect that is rather sad.”

“Sometimes, when the bishop confers Confirmation — the gift of the Holy Spirit — you never see the young people again,” Pope Leo said. “They disappear from the parish.”

The pope urged the confirmation candidates to pray to the Holy Spirit for perseverance, encouraging each of them to make a personal commitment to persevere in following Christ after receiving the sacrament.

“It is so important that each of you also makes this commitment, this promise to the Lord: that you truly wish to continue as His friends, His disciples, His missionaries, and that you wish to persevere in the faith,” the pope said.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that confirmation, together with baptism and the Eucharist, constitutes the sacraments of Christian initiation, and that its reception is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace.

Pope Leo encouraged the confirmandi to return to their parishes, participate in community life and hold fast to the joy that they experienced during their preparation for the sacrament and their pilgrimage to Rome.

“May this joy live in your hearts and may you continue to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ,” he said. “May you persevere in the faith.”

“Jesus Christ wants to walk with you, with each one of you, and with all of you in community, which is so important,” the pope said.

The Church teaches that confirmation provides a deepening baptismal grace, uniting the faithful more firmly to Christ, increasing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and giving a special strength to spread and defend the faith

“We do not live our faith alone; we live it together,” Pope Leo said. “And forming these bonds of friendship and community is a way of living out perseverance as disciples of Jesus.”

Speaking ahead of the feast of Pentecost, which falls on May 24, the pope recalled the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the first apostles, who went on to “proclaim the Gospel, to proclaim the love of God.”

He told the candidates for confirmation, “You will all take part in this mission, because we are all sent: to your families, to your friends, to all people. And you must be a living witness to the Spirit who dwells in us.”