Pope Leo XIV Inspires Young Catholics With A Powerful Message at Jubilee Youth Festival

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.

“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!”

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.

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.