Pope Francis holds online meeting with young people from Asia

This Thursday, June 20, Pope Francis spoke “via zoom” with a group of university students from Asia within the framework of the initiative Building bridges (Building bridges).

This event has been organized by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and also by Loyola University of Chicago (United States) and its objective is dialogue and discernment among young people from around the world around shared social concerns.

Once these reflections have been made, participants have the opportunity to dialogue live with Pope Francis, where they can share with him the experiences of their group.

It should be remembered that the first session of this project was held in February 2022. On this occasion, young people from Singapore, East Timor and Papua Guinea participated, places that Pope Francis will visit on his next Apostolic Journey in September of this year.

During the colloquium, which took place live on his YouTube channel at 2:00 p.m. (Rome time), the Holy Father stressed that young people “seek a sense of belonging.”

According to the Pontiff, “youth belong to society” and therefore it is necessary for everyone to feel part of something, “very important for mental health.”

Commenting on the interventions of the young people, Pope Francis also stressed the need to “give testimony and be witnesses to it.”

The Holy Father affirmed that the sense of belonging also “favors the dignity of human beings.” “Don’t give up your belongings,” he encouraged.

Witness and belonging, according to Pope Francis, “saves us from vulnerability,” something to which young people today are exposed.

“I advise you one thing: think about what you have in your life that is most vulnerable, where you are weakest, to help yourself and let yourself be helped,” he told the young people.

He also denounced discrimination as one of the main causes of poor mental health.

During his online meeting, Pope Francis invited young people to see each other as “a neighbor” and not as a simple number.

He also focused his attention on discrimination against people based on their identity, that is, “gender discrimination.”

For Pope Francis, today, “women are considered second category.” However, he pointed out that “it is important to see the greatness of women” and assured that they are superior to men “in terms of capacity, intention, ability to create community.”

He also highlighted female intuition and motherhood. For the Pontiff, any discrimination must be resolved with “projimidad”.

The Holy Father also assured that “the capacity to love makes one grow” and invited young people to know how to discern what is true love and what is not. “Always play for love,” he agreed.

Pope Francis also highlighted the importance of interreligiousness. “The challenge of a Christian is to know how to pray, to know how to participate and to know how to belong,” he asserted.

He also advised young people not to isolate themselves, since when one isolates oneself, all kinds of vices grow. To do this, he assured that it is necessary “formation in the faith, knowing well what faith is and being authentic Christians.”