The Pope’s “Jubilee of Youth” ends with mass for 1m pilgrims

Pope Leo XIV presented a final mass in Rome for more than a million young people on Sunday, the culmination of a pilgrimage that has taken Catholics from all over the world.

“Attached to great things, holiness, wherever you are. Don’t settle for less,” Pope Leo said in the crowd.

The weekly “Youth Jubilee”-a focus of the Jubilee of the Holy Year-was a huge business for the Vatican, with half a million young pilgrims in Rome for most of the week.

On Saturday night, prior to a vigilance of twilight led by the Pope, the organizers said there were 800,000 people in the huge, outdoor space in the eastern suburbs of Rome and on Sunday the Vatican said the number had increased to a million.

Most of them spent the night in scenes, sleeping bags or mats pending Sunday’s mass.

Among them was the New Yorker Christofer Delano, who said he was “so happy to see Pope Leo” but surprised by the crowds.

“I didn’t expect to see all these people. I knew there would be a lot of people – I didn’t know that there would be so many,” he told AFP.

In his speech, the first US Pope and a former missionary encouraged the concentrated youth to “spread your enthusiasm and the testimony of your faith to all you meet”.

The Vatican tried to highlight the pilgrims who traveled to Rome from the war perforation of the war, and Leo said in Angelus’s prayer: “We are closer than ever to young people suffering from the most serious evils caused by other people.”

“We are with the young people of Gaza, we are with the young people of Ukraine, with those of every land that are bloody by war,” said 69 -year -old Pontiff.

“The young brothers and my sisters are the sign that a different world is strong. A world of brotherhood and friendship where conflicts are not resolved with weapons but by dialogue.”

The colorful event was accompanied by music by a choir and about 450 bishops and 700 priests, all in green robes. A towering cross dominated the huge golden arch that covered the scene where the Pope’s mass led.

Italian pilgrim Tommaso Benedetti said the Pope had passed his “first test” in the eyes of young people during the youth jubilee.

“We feel quite satisfied. There have been many references to Peace, which is a matter that is very close to our hearts as young people,” Benedetti told AFP.

The young pilgrims – from 146 different countries, according to the Vatican – have filled the streets of Rome since Monday, chanting, singing and waving flags of their countries.

The festive atmosphere arrived on Saturday in front of the vigilance that emerged from Leo, with the Italian broadcasting RAI expressing it expressing it “Woodstock”.

Hundreds of thousands were camped in the dusty space, guitars or singing, as the music was launched by the scene where a series of religious bands decorated the crowds.

Leo was greeted with deafening screams and applause after helicopter arrival and as he toured his Popobil premises, with many people running to take a better look at the new Pope.

The roads leading to Tor Vegata, about a 40 -minute drive from downtown Rome, were packaged, making Leo’s choice to transport helicopters both on Saturday and Sunday.

In over 500,000 square meters (125 acres), the spaces were the size of about 70 football fields.

British student Andy Hewellyn sat in front of a huge video screen – a prime spot as he couldn’t see the scene away.

“I’m so happy to be here, even if I’m a little away from the Pope. I knew what to expect!” Said to AFP.

“The main thing is that we are all together.”

The youth pilgrimage came about three months after the launch of Leo’s Papism and 25 years after the organization of John Paul II, the last such gathering of young people in Rome.

It was announced by Pope Francis during World Youth Day in Lisbon in 2023.

The Church was planning a series of events for young pilgrims during the week, including the conversion of the circus Maximus-where the chariot struggles were held in ancient Rome-in an outdoor bond.