Rome is already ready to receive the more than 500,000 young people who, convened by Pope Francis and welcome by Pope Leo XIV, arrive from different parts of the world to live the jubilee of young people, which is celebrated from July 28 to August 3.
From the other side of the Atlantic, the young Argentines also respond to this call and little by little they arrive in Rome, with many expectations and with the living memory of Pope Francis.
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From the Diocese of San Martín, and accompanied by two priests, about 20 young people left days ago carrying a flag where the intentions of the Diocesan community are written, and of the youth of the popular neighborhoods, as a tribute to Pope Francis and reception of Pope Leo XIV.
Upon arriving in Italy, the group made a stop in the Friuli region, where they have a twinninga twinning with the Diocese of Udine, and are doing there an exchange experience.
Sisters diocese
Father Leonardo Della Picca, who accompanies the group, explains that the dioceses of San Martín in Argentina, and Udine, in Italy, have been twinned for more than 60 years.
“In 2019 there was an exchange of young people who came to our parishes and now we come with 25 young people. Here they received us in the parish, and it is to see a little how faith is lived in a parish in northern Italy, share life experiences as a church,” he details.
In the group is Irina, 26, who belongs to the Catholic Action of the Diocese of San Martín, and seeks that this trip be a reminder of “the universal of our Catholic Church” to “infect me and find those things that we share with people with whom we do not understand in language, that we have another culture, but that there is something much bigger that brings us together, summons us and calls us.”
Francisco, the Pope who “pushed to my side”
Remembering the figure of the Argentine pontiff, Irina admits that anything that says “will be short”, because it was “the most beautiful face we could have as Argentines, which spoke to all from their Argentine.”
“It was feeling that there was a Pope who was always pushing for my side, for what I needed, for what was good for me,” he recalls.
Today, a few days after the jubilee, he admits to feel a bit of “human disappointment” because since he began to dream the trip “I imagined that I was going to live the vigil with him and listen to him.”
His death “was a blow,” he says, but he lived it “with a lot of hope, confidence, knowing that it had to be so and that there will be a lot of León, that we will be able to listen to him in the front row and that it will be something very nice too,” he anticipates.
The Pope of my adolescence
Natán, a member of the Youth Pastoral Coordinating Team, says that the days in Udine “make the experience very rich” and help “prepare the heart with other brothers and then be able to live the jubilee in full.”
Remembering the Pope of his adolescence, he defines Francisco as a reference “when taking these first steps in the service”, and assures that “with his teaching illuminates the pastoral service of many of our dioceses.”
“The truth is that I miss it. And I am very expectant from the encounter with Pope León, see what tells young people, what tells us. And well, the emotion of being able to see the Pope, the successor of Peter, is very great,” he summarizes.
Embrace, thank and continue with Francisco’s legacy
Next to them is also Fr. Lucas Antognazza, advisor to the Ministry of Youth, who says that this trip is an opportunity to “be able to hug, give thanks and be able to continue the legacy of Pope Francis.”
“All of us are ‘Francisco Generation’ because we grew up with his words, with his example, with his documents and everything he taught us,” says the priest. “Our faith is completely crossed by all its teaching and, in some way, to be able to embrace and continue its legacy is an opportunity and a privilege for us.”
Sharing the days before the jubilee with Udine’s diocese “allows us to make the pilgrimage a true community experience and a true spiritual experience,” he considers, and also a time “to thank God and be closer to Jesus, experience him closer than ever.”
To echo your voice with works
The figure of Pope Francis was also rooted in Jasmine’s heart, which when he thinks of him, he feels an invitation “to look beyond remembering the footprint he left us.”
“I think a lot about that ‘I invite you to celebrate together the jubilee of young people'”, admits, and in the pain that causes “together” that could not be, “as if hiding an unfinished longing.”
However, he keeps his legacy: “He taught us that there is a father God, who listens and accompanies from tenderness and love”, especially “so many people who do not feel looks, nor hugged, nor loved.”
“The greatest act of dignity is to make a revolution since sweetness. It is to make mess, it is to follow its legacy and not forget,” he says.
Sofia also remembers it as “a shepherd very close to young people, a model to continue to make pastoral, to lead teams, to accompany others.”
“Much of his message resonates us a lot in the day -to -day life of this trip that we are going to do. Being community, being part of all, all, as Francisco said,” he adds, yearning for “to be able to echo his word, his message, his voice, with works.”
Julieta Villar
I am a journalist, a graduate in Communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non -governmental organizations. Since 2016 I dedicate myself to Catholic journalism, first in the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as a correspondent for ACI Press for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.