Pope Francis acknowledged the profound challenges facing today’s generation and called for renewed hope and perseverance in the face of adversity.
“Today, we too live in times marked by dramatic situations that generate despair and prevent us from looking to the future with serenity,” the pope said. He highlighted how young people in some parts of the world pay a high price when faced with the tragedy of war, social injustices, and inequalities.
The pope also pointed to the temptation to despair when faced with uncertainty about the future, saying that young people today who live without hope can be “prisoners of boredom, depression, and even be drawn to risk-taking and destructive behaviors.”
“For this reason, dear young people, I would like the message of hope to come to you,” he said. “Today too, the Lord is opening a highway before you.”
“The Christian life in particular is a pilgrimage toward God, our salvation and the fullness of every good thing,” he said. “Our goals, achievements, and successes along the way, if they remain only material, will, after an initial moment of satisfaction, still leave us hungry, longing for something greater.”
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“They cannot completely satisfy our soul, because we were created by One who is infinite; as a result, we have an innate desire for transcendence.’”
The pope cautioned against the dangers of complacency and inaction. He said: “The solution to tiredness, oddly enough, is not to stand still and rest. It is to set out and become pilgrims of hope.”
The theme for this year’s World Youth Day is “Those Who Hope in the Lord Will Run and Not Be Weary,” taken from Isaiah 40:31 in the Bible. The pope said he wanted the theme to connect it with the theme for the 2025 Jubilee, “Pilgrims of Hope.”
Pope Francis said: “Those who visit St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome cross the great square surrounded by the colonnade built by the celebrated architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The entire colonnade appears as two open arms, an image of the Church, our mother, who embraces all her children.”
“In this coming Holy Year of Hope, I invite all of you to experience the embrace of our merciful God, to experience his pardon and the forgiveness of all our ‘interior debts,’ as in the biblical tradition of the jubilee years.”
“I entrust your journey to the Virgin Mary, so that, following her example, you may be able to look forward with patience and confidence to the fulfillment of all your hopes, even now, as you persevere in your journey as pilgrims of hope and of love,” he said.
Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.
