Leo XIV told young people, ‘you are the sign that a different world is possible’
The pope and a million young people from around the world gathered in Tor Vergata for their Jubilee. Jesus is awaiting them to satisfy their thirst, and “it is truly beautiful, especially at a young age, to open wide your hearts.” The pontiff turned his thoughts to the young people of Gaza, Ukraine, and many other places affected by war. He extended an invitation to everyone to meet again in Seoul from 3 to 8 August 2027, for World Youth Day in Asia.
Rome (AsiaNews) – Pope Leo XIV greeted with words of encouragement a million young people gathered today in the grounds of the University of Rome Tor Vergata for the closing celebration of the Jubilee of Youth.
“My young brothers and sisters,” he told them, “you 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.”
Speaking before the Angelus, Leo said: “In 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.”
For the pontiff, there still is hope for a world brutalised by war. And he placed it in the hands of these young people. “With Christ it is possible! With his love, with his forgiveness, with the strength of his Spirit.”
“My dear friends,” he said, “united to Jesus like branches to the vine, you will bear much fruit; you will be the salt of the earth, the light of the world; you will be seeds of hope wherever you live: in your family, with your friends, at school, at work, in sports. Seeds of hope with Christ, our hope.”
The pope’s address was the culmination of two intense days in which he experienced his first real encounter with young people from around the world.
He arrived at Tor Vergata yesterday at dusk, carrying the cross among them. He then answered their questions on the main issues of each person's life, such as friendship, the courage to choose, the call to be good, and the value of silence.
But even more than with his words, last night the pontiff struck young people by praying with them, accompanying them in an atmosphere of meditation right where joy and celebration had reigned for hours, in the act of Eucharistic adoration, which was probably the most powerful message of this Jubilee gathering.
The invitation of the disciples of Emmaus to Jesus, "Stay with us," was the common thread between the words the pontiff spoke yesterday and the homily at this morning's Mass, in which the young men and women, coming from a world wounded in so many ways, took part after spending the entire night on the Tor Vergata grounds, which had been soaked by a light rain.
Leo spoke about two figures from the Gospel who “set out from Jerusalem frightened and disappointed, convinced that, after Jesus’ death, there was nothing more to expect, nothing in which to place their hope. But they later found him along the way, welcomed him as a travelling companion, listened to him as he explained the Scriptures, and then recognized him in the breaking of the bread.”
He told young people that “We are not made for a life where everything is taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed through [the] 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.”
This is the same thirst that Saint Augustine of Hippo experienced as a young man, whom Leo considers his great master.
“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. It is truly beautiful, especially at a young age, to open wide your hearts, to allow him to enter, and to set out on this adventure with him towards eternity.”
Like the journey of the disciples of Emmaus, this one now begins from Tor Vergata for all young people.
“It has been an outpouring of grace for the Church and for the whole world! This has been possible through the participation of each one of you. For this, I wish to thank each of you, with all my heart.”
As he did yesterday evening, Leo remembered María and Pascale, the two young pilgrims, one Spanish and one Egyptian, who died last week, as if to remind us that hope does not erase pain, but illuminates it with the light of the Risen One.
Leo XIV finally mentioned the next stage of this "pilgrimage of hope," which will take the world's young people with him to Seoul, Asia, from 3 to 8 August 2027, for World Youth Day.
For the pontiff, “It is precisely the hope that dwells in our hearts that gives us the strength to proclaim the victory of the risen Christ over evil and death; and you, young pilgrims of hope, will be witnesses of this to the ends of the earth! I look forward to seeing you in Seoul: let us continue to dream together and to hope together.”
“I ask you to also convey greetings to the many young people who were unable to come and be here with us, in so many countries from which it was impossible to leave,” the Pontiff said, once again appealing to the peoples afflicted by war but also by many other political and economic obstacles.
“Bring this joy, this enthusiasm, to the whole world,” he said in concluding. “You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world – convey this greeting to all your friends, to all the young people who need a message of hope.”
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11/02/2022 18:11
27/06/2008
