Pope Leo XIV in the vigil of the Jubilee of Young people: friendship can really change the world

“Dear young people: you love each other well, you love in Christ, know how to see Jesus in others. Friendship can really change the world, friendship is a path for peace.” That was the breath of Pope Leo XIV before the multitude of young pilgrims who congregated in Tor Vergata for the prayer vigil of the Jubilee of the Young people, since the afternoon of this Saturday, August 2.

According to Vatican NewsOfficial Informative of the Vatican, one million young people attended Tor Vergata to an event that began in the early hours of the afternoon.

The Holy Father arrived by helicopter around 7:30 pm (local time), and toured the place in the Papamóvil, greeting and giving his blessing to the attendees.

The Holy Father descended later from the Papamóvil and, together with a group of young people, walked in procession towards the main stand carrying the cross of the jubilee year 2025.

Once at the stage, he attended to three questions from young people, in Spanish, Italian and English. The first concern, read and answered in Spanish, was “How can we find a sincere friendship and a genuine love that lead us to true hope? How can faith help us build our future?”

León stressed in his response, which was marked by several times when the Pope improvised some words.

“Dear young people, human relations, our relationships with other people are indispensable for each of us,” he said. “Our life begins with a bond and it is through the links that we grow.”

“In this process, culture plays a fundamental role: it is the code with which we understand ourselves and interpret the world. As a dictionary, each culture contains both noble words and vulgar words, values and errors that you have to learn to recognize,” he said.

The Pope then said that “the truth, in effect, is a link that unites words to things, the names of faces. The lie, on the other hand, separates these aspects, generating confusion and misunderstandings.”

The algorithms that determine “who should be our friends”

The Holy Father, remembering the words of Pope Francis in Christ livesHe stressed that “Internet and social networks have become ‘an extraordinary opportunity for dialogue, encounter and exchange between people, as well as access to information and knowledge'”, but warned that “these instruments are ambiguous when they are dominated by commercial logics and interests that break our relationships into a thousand intermittences.”

In a few words outside his prepared speech, Leo XIV warned young people about the current “algorithms that tell us what we have to do, what we have to think and who our friends should be.”

Within that framework, he said, “our relationships sometimes become confusing, unstable, sometimes anxious. And when the instrument dominates man, man becomes an instrument: a market instrument already in turn in merchandise.”

“Only sincere relationships and stable ties grow good life stories,” he said.

The Pope referred to the example of “centuries” of St. Augustine, who “captured the deep desire of our heart, even without knowing what we have today in technological development. He also went through a stormy youth; but he did not settle, he did not silence the clamor of his heart.”

“Agustín was looking for, really, the truth is that he does not disappoint, the beauty that does not happen. And how did he find it? How did he find a sincere friendship, a love capable of giving hope? Finding who was already looking for him, finding Jesus Christ,” he said.

Then the Holy Father answered in Italian a question about “how to find courage to choose from.”

“The decision is a fundamental human act,” he said, highlighting that “it is not just about choosing something, but about opting for someone. When we chose, in a deep sense, we decided what we want to become.”

The Pope then pointed out that “the option par excellence, in effect, is the decision about our life: what kind of man do you want to be? What kind of woman do you want to be?”

“You learn to choose through the evidence of life, and first of all remembering that we have been chosen. This memory must be explored and educate. We have received free life, without choosing it. We are not the result of our decision, but of a love that has loved us.”

León stressed that “to be free, it is necessary to start from a stable foundation, from the rock that holds our steps. This rock is a love that precedes us, surprises us and overcomes us infinitely: the love of God. That is why, before him the decision is a trial that does not take away any good, but always leads us to the best.”

The gift of oneself “makes us authentically happy”

Citing the message That San Juan Pablo II directed 25 years ago in Tor Vergata, on the occasion of the prayer vigil in the XV World Youth Day, the Pope assured the young people that “it is Jesus who you are looking for when you dream happiness.”

Leo XIV continued: “Fear then leaves space to hope, because we are sure that God leads to what begins.”

“‘You are my life, Lord’, is what a priest or a consecrated pronounce full of joy and freedom. ‘You are my life, Lord’.

The Pope stressed that “marriage, sacred order and religious consecration, express the gift of oneself, free and liberating, which makes us authentically happy. There we find happiness, when we learn to donate ourselves, donate life for others.”

Pope’s prayer by two pilgrims killed during the Jubilee of Young

In his words, León also reminded two young pilgrims killed during the jubilee of young people. “Maria, 20, Spanish. And Pascale, 18, Egyptian. Both decided to come to Rome for the jubilee of young people and death has reached them these days.”

“Let’s pray together for them,” the Pope asked. “Let’s also pray for their families, for their friends, for their communities, that Jesus resurrected them in the peace and joy of his kingdom.”

“And I would also like to ask for his prayers for another friend, a young Spanish, Ignacio Gonzálvez, who has been admitted to the Bambino Gesú hospital. Let’s pray for him, for his health,” he added.

“Study, work and love following the example of Jesus”

Asked how to find Jesus risen in the life of each one, in his third response, in English, the Pope stressed that “Jesus is the friend who always accompanies us in the formation of our conscience. If they really want to find the resurrected Lord, listen to his word, which is the gospel of salvation.”

“Reflect on their way of living and seek justice to build a more human world. They serve the poor and give testimony of the good that we will always like to receive from our neighbors. They worship Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, source of eternal life.”

“Study, work and love following the example of Jesus, the good teacher who always walks by our side,” he added.

“Pope Benedict XVI liked to say that those who believe are never alone. In other words, we find Christ in the Church, that is, in the communion of those who honestly seek it,” he said.

“The Lord himself gathers us to form a community, not only any community, but a community of believers who support each other. How much the missionaries of the Gospel that witnesses of justice and peace are needs! How much does the future need men and women who are witnesses of hope!”

“Thank you, Jesus, for calling me”

Towards the end of his words, Leo XIV remembered San Agustín again, this time in a fragment of his Confessions: “You move it to it, causing it to delight in praising you, because you have done us for you and our heart is restless until you rest in you. (…) That I, Lord, seek to invoke you and invoke you believing in you.”

“Following those words of Agustín, and in response to your questions, I would like to invite each of you, dear young people, to tell the Lord: ‘Thank you, Jesus, for calling me. My desire is to continue being one of your friends, so that, hugging you, I can also be a partner of everyone who finds on the way. Grant me, Lord, that those who find me can find you, even through my limitations and weaknesses.”

“By praying with these words, our dialogue will continue every time we look at the crucified Lord, because our hearts will be united in it,” he said.

“Finally, my prayer for you is to persevere in faith, with joy and courage. And we can tell you thank you Jesus for loving us. Thank you Jesus for having loved us. Thank you Jesus for calling us. Stay with us, Lord,” he concluded.

After the words of the Holy Father, and the night fallen in Tor Vergata, the crowd participated reverently in the Eucharistic worship chaired by the Pope. At the end, the Holy Father blessed young people with the Blessed Sacrament.

After the song of the Magnificat, the Holy Father from the altar expressed his gratitude to both the choir that accompanied the vigil and “all of you”, being interrupted by the excited crowd he chanted, in Italian, “”Pope Leone!”.

“Rest a little,” the Pope encouraged the young people, many of whom will spend the night in Tor Vergata to participate in the Holy Mass that will preside over the Holy Father on the morning of Sunday, August 3, and with which the Jubilee of the Young will officially concludes.