Rome.- Pope Leo XIV presided over this Saturday afternoon the most multitudinous act of his still brief pontificate, the Jubilee of Youth, with hundreds of thousands of people from numerous countries whom he urged to "build a more human" and just world.
"Reflect on your way of living and seek justice to build a more humane world. Serve the poor, and thus give testimony to the good that we would always like to receive from our neighbors", urged the pontiff, answering a question.
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The Pope traveled this Saturday to the esplanade of Tor Vergata, on the outskirts of Rome, to preside over a prayer vigil with thousands of boys and girls from 146 countries from all continents to participate in the expected Jubilee of Youth.
Leo XIV arrived by helicopter and then toured the entire place aboard the popemobile, greeting and blessing the many young people who were waiting for him with excitement, some of them even running alongside the pontifical entourage.
Then, he took the Jubilee cross in his own hands and led a procession on foot with dozens of young people to the stage where he presided over the event.
The Pope spent the afternoon answering three questions posed by three young people: in English, his mother tongue as an American; in Spanish, his adopted language due to his many years of mission and bishopric in Peru, his second homeland, and in Italian.
"Dear young people, love each other, love each other in Christ, know how to see Jesus in others. Friendship can truly change the world. Friendship is a path to peace," he recommended as soon as the meeting began.
The Ambiguity of the Internet
In the first question, young Mexican Dulce María asked the pontiff on stage how one can build a sincere friendship or genuine love in a time marked by technology and social media.
These latest tools, he maintained, citing the teachings of Pope Francis, are "an extraordinary opportunity for dialogue" but warned that "they are ambiguous when dominated by commercial logics and interests that break our relationships into a thousand intermittencies".
"Then our relationships become confusing, unstable, sometimes anxious. When the instrument dominates the man, the man becomes an instrument. Only sincere relationships and stable bonds make good life stories grow," he defended.
Peace Missionaries
On the other hand, at the time of the question in English, Leo XIV claimed that today's world needs voices of justice and peace but also that of the future demands hope.
"How much the world needs missionaries of the Gospel who are witnesses of justice and peace! How much the future needs men and women who are witnesses of hope! Dear young people, this is the mission that the Risen Lord entrusts to each of us!", he urged.
Therefore, Leo XIV urged the thousands of young people listening to him to "seek justice to build a more humane world."
During the event, the pontiff also remembered the young people who have not been able to participate in this massive Jubilee because they died before it began.
From the stage, he cited the Spanish woman María Cobo, 20 years old, and the Egyptian Pascale Rafic, 18, who died last night from heart failure while traveling on a bus to the Roman parish of Artena where she was staying these days.
"I say this, this afternoon, thinking of two girls. María, 20 years old, Spanish, and Pascale, 18 years old, Egyptian. Both had decided to come to Rome for the Youth Jubilee and death has welcomed them in these days," he announced, sorrowfully, before a crowd that broke into applause.
He also asked to pray for another Spanish boy, Ignacio González, who has had to be admitted to the Roman hospital Bambino Gesu.
The Night at Tor Vergata
The long day at Tor Vergata, the same setting as the historic World Youth Day of John Paul II in 2000, was enlivened with shows, the dance of the Spaniard Sergio Bernal or the voices of the Hakuna group.
Everything to lighten the wait of the thousands of young people who arrived and crowded the area (from the stage it was announced that the participation figure was already close to a million, although for now it is not official or definitive).
The afternoon ended with chants of "papa León" from the crowd, to which the pontiff responded: "Rest a little. The appointment is tomorrow morning for the holy mass. Congratulations to all and good night", and then personally greeted some boys.
After this vigil, the young people will camp on the esplanade awaiting the final event, a mass presided over, once again, by Leo XIV.
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