Pope Leo XIV has inspired a massive crowd of young Catholics gathered at the Jubilee of Youth celebrations in Rome to mark the Vatican’s Holy Year of 2025, according to a report published by The Associated Press on Sunday. Arriving by helicopter to the Tor Vergata field, the pope addressed an estimated 500,000 to one million pilgrims who had camped overnight under the sun and stars, the report said.
Speaking in Spanish, Italian and English, Leo touched on the dangers of social media, the importance of real friendship, and making life-changing decisions rooted in faith.
Saint Augustine too had a restless youth, but he did not settle for less, did not silence the cry of his heart. He sought the truth that does not disappoint, and the beauty that does not fade. How did he find it? How did he find true friendship, and a love that gives rise to…
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) August 2, 2025
“Friendship can really change the world. Friendship is a path to peace,” he said, per AP. “How much the world needs missionaries of the Gospel who are witnesses of justice and peace!”
To be free, we need to start from a stable foundation, from a rock that supports our steps. This rock is a love that precedes us, surprises us and is infinitely greater than us: the love of God. #JubileeOfYouth
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) August 2, 2025
The pope also expressed sorrow as he reflected on the death of two young pilgrims in Rome, with one of them reportedly succumbing to cardiac arrest, and a third pilgrim hospitalised.
I would like to invite each of you, dear young people, to say to the Lord: “Thank you, Jesus, for calling me. My desire is to remain one of your friends, so that, by embracing you, I may also be a companion on the journey for anyone I meet. Grant, O Lord, that those who meet me…
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) August 2, 2025
Faith on the Streets of Rome
For a week leading up to the vigil, tens of thousands of young Catholics from nearly 150 countries thronged Rome’s streets, piazzas and churches. They prayed the Rosary, sang hymns, and confessed their sins to over 1,000 priests in a dozen languages.
“It is something spiritual, that you can experience only every 25 years,” a pilgrim from Mexico told the Associated Press, adding, “As a young person, having the chance to live this meeting with the pope, I feel it is a spiritual growth.”
The energy, many present at the event, said resembled a mini World Youth Day, similar to what was witnessed at the event held at the same field in 2000 by St. John Paul II.
The Good Kind of Invasion
Though some Romans voiced frustration about crowded subways and bus delays, many embraced the joyful “invasion”.
“You think of invasion as something negative. But this is a positive invasion,” a local hairdresser told the US-based news agency.
Meanwhile, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni called the celebration an “extraordinary festival of faith, joy, and hope.”
The pope was set to return Sunday morning to celebrate Mass, closing what many called a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
