Pope Leo has urged more than a million Catholic youths to “spread your enthusiasm and the witness of your faith” when they return home to some 150 countries, during a Mass ending a week-long encounter with the next generation of faithful.
“Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are,” Leo urged them. “Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you.”
The young people camped in sprawling fields south-east of Rome overnight after attending a vigil service for the Jubilee of Youth on Saturday, also presided by Leo – who has been ferried to and from Vatican City by helicopter.
The Vatican said more than one million young people were present, along with 7,000 priests and 450 bishops.
The special Jubilee celebration is part of the Holy Year that is expected to draw 32 million people to the Vatican for the centuries-old pilgrimage to the seat of Catholicism.
The week has been a joyous gathering marked by bands of youths singing hymns as they move down cobblestoned streets, praying rosaries in piazzas and standing for hours at the Circus Maximus to confess their sins to priests offering the sacrament in a dozen languages.
Leo also shared tragic news on Saturday. Two young people who had made the pilgrimage to Rome had died, one reportedly of cardiac arrest, while a third was in hospital.
Rain overnight awakened the faithful but did not dampen their spirits.
Soemil Rios, 20, from Puerto Rico, said: “At least we were a little covered, but we still got a bit wet. We lost our voices a little. It was cold, but we woke up to a beautiful sun and view.
“Despite the difficulties, it was very nice and very special to have been part of this historic moment.”
