Over 1 million join Pope Leo XIV for World Youth Jubilee Mass in Rome
The Vatican put the number of youths attending the event at more than a million, based on official estimates. Leo arrived by popemobile to cheers and applause.
He urged the celebrants "to adventure with the Lord toward eternity" saying that the Lord was "gently knocked" at the window of their souls.
"Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you," he said.
The youth gathering is seen as the central event in the Jubilee Year, with the high point on Sunday on the Tor Vergata sports fields in the southeast of the Italian capital. The event was held there in 2000 as well, when John Paul II was pope.
The event was the largest to date during the papacy of the first pope from the United States.
At 69, Leo is considerably younger than many of his predecessors. He is seen as approachable and keen on sport, granting one of his first audiences to tennis player Jannik Sinner.
During the evening vigil on Saturday, Leo answered three questions from young people, showing fluency in Spanish, Italian and English to talk about friendship in the age of social media.
He spoke of the fear of taking decisions and the quest to make sense of the world. Many of the young people spent the night outdoors after the event that included music and prayers.
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