Pope Leo XIV to Lead Mass as Thousands of Young Catholics Pack Rome for Holy Year Youth Festival

Around 500,000 young Catholics swarmed Rome’s Tor Vergata field on Saturday, braving summer heat and long queues to take part in the 2025 Holy Year’s youth vigil with Pope Leo XIV. Many danced, sang and prayed through the day in anticipation of the Pope’s arrival for an outdoor Mass and vigil — his biggest encounter yet with the next generation of believers, according to a report published by The Associated Press on Saturday.

Water cannons and misting trucks, the report said, were used to keep the crowds cool as temperatures climbed to 30 degrees Celsius (85 degrees Fahrenheit). According to the report, bands from across the world played Christian rock music and hymns as young people set up for an overnight campout under the stars.

A Spiritual Festival with Global Energy

Many believers say the atmosphere resembled World Youth Day 2000, which was held in the same field by Pope John Paul II. For a week, young pilgrims in colourful T-shirts have filled Rome’s streets, praying the Rosary, singing with guitars and tambourines, and even lining up at the Circus Maximus to confess to over 1,000 priests in multiple languages, the report said.

“We don’t expect it to be easy,” a 19-year-old from Lebanon told the AP, adding, “It’s a bit messed up, but this is what is nice about the Jubilee.”  

Tragedy Before the Joy

The celebration was briefly marred by the death of Pascale Rafic, an 18-year-old pilgrim from Egypt. Pope Leo met with her group Saturday and expressed condolences to her family.

While some locals grumbled about clogged metro platforms and disrupted commutes, others welcomed the energy. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni praised the event as “an extraordinary festival of faith, joy and hope,” as reported by the AP.

A Romanian hairdresser whose neighborhood borders Tor Vergata told the news agency, “You think the faith is in difficulty, but this is proof that it’s not so. You think of invasion as something negative. But this is a positive invasion.”

Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, is expected to return Sunday for Mass, ending a jubilant weekend of youth, faith and unity.