Pope Leo XIV visits young people from the Peace School Ship and encourages them to change the world with Jesus

Pope Leo Beautiful Hope.

In response to Pope Francis’ call to turn the Mediterranean into a place of meeting, peace and coexistence in diversity, this initiative emerged, which set sail on March 1 from Barcelona, ​​Spain.

Over the course of eight months, a total of 200 young people from the five shores of the Mediterranean – from various countries, faiths and languages ​​– have taken turns to sail the sea, visiting more than 30 ports before concluding their journey in the French city of Marseille.

Each month is dedicated to a specific theme, addressing issues such as intercultural dialogue, peacebuilding, the relationship between Eastern and Western Christianities, migration challenges, and environment and development.

During their stop in Rome, they had a visit from the Holy Father, who after being welcomed by the Archbishop of Marseille, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, dedicated some improvised words to the young people.

Change the world with Jesus

In dialogue with the young people on the ship, the Holy Father lamented that there is still hunger and violence in the world, and then responded to Hanan’s question, who questioned: “If this many people can live in such a small space and be in peace and be friends, why can’t we do the same in such a big world?”

In his response, Pope Leo highlighted the need for “the will, the firm testimony of many people, including you, to spread that message.”

“As missionaries, of course we try to do it. There are many other people who try too. But I always remember a phrase from Saint Augustine – here we are in Ostia – who said: ‘If you want to change the world and make it a better place, you must start by changing yourself’. I hope and pray that each of you have learned this lesson during this time,” he added.

Next, Leo

“I believe that Jesus Christ taught it very clearly and saved us all through his suffering on the cross. He invites us to imitate his life and serve one another. With that additional reflection, I believe that we can effectively change the world,” he stressed.

Dialogue, building bridges and being peace builders

The Pontiff then proposed three ideas about things he considers the world needs:

“The first word is dialogue…How important it is to learn to dialogue, to sit down, to learn, to listen, to express one’s own ideas and values, as well as to respect each other so that others feel truly listened to,” the Pope indicated.

“From the dialogue, I would say that we could talk precisely about build bridges; “Not necessarily a bridge across the Mediterranean, but a bridge between all of us, people from different nations,” he added.

Commenting that some of those present are from Palestine, the Pope highlighted the importance of being peace builders in a world “that increasingly tends towards violence, hatred, separation, distancing and polarization. We can unite even if we are from different countries, have different languages, different cultures, different religions, and still, we are all human beings. We are all sons and daughters of the only God.”