Pope Francis Tells 80,000 Youth Pilgrims to Ask Our Lady for Courage to Do God’s Will

“Life sometimes puts us to the test, makes us experience our weaknesses, makes us feel raw, helpless, alone,” he said.

“How many times in this [pandemic] period have you felt alone, far from your friends? How many times have you been afraid?” Francis added.

He underlined that people should not be afraid to admit their fears.

“Fears need to be spoken, fears need to be expressed, so that they can be cast out. Remember this: fears must be said out loud. To whom? To dad, to mom, to a friend, to someone who can help you. They need to be brought to light,” he said.

“And when fears, which are in the darkness, are brought into the light, the truth breaks out.”

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During the youth encounter, a girl named Sofia spoke about how she had experienced loneliness during the COVID-19 lockdowns and how a new friend helped her to rediscover hope.

Another girl, Alice, shared her suffering due to the death of her grandmother and how she came to understand redemptive suffering.

Pope Francis also reminded the young people to keep in mind their brothers and sisters who are suffering due to the war in Ukraine.

“Jesus conquered the darkness of death. Unfortunately, the clouds that obscure our time are still thick. In addition to the pandemic, Europe is experiencing a terrible war while injustices and violence that destroy humanity and the planet continue in many parts of the Earth,” the pope said.

“Often it is precisely your peers who pay the highest price: not only is their existence compromised and made insecure, but their dreams for the future are trampled underfoot. So many brothers and sisters are still waiting for the light of Easter.”

The pope said that just as children call to their mother in times of difficulty, so too do Catholics ask for the intercession of “our mom, Mary,” who was about the same age when she “accepted her extraordinary vocation to be the mother of Jesus.”

Pope Francis blessed the young people and said: “May the risen Jesus be the strength of your lives: go in peace and be happy, all of you!”

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.