Pope Leo XIV arrived in St. Peter’s Square about half an hour before the scheduled start of the traditional Wednesday audiences to greet the various groups gathered there, including young people who had flocked to the capital for the Jubilee dedicated to them. This was an almost ideal continuation of last night’s unexpected embrace, during which he greeted the 120,000 young people gathered in St.Peter’s Square and its immediate surroundings, delivering an impromptu speech. The Jubilee program continues today with Dialogues with the City, starting with a special meeting with Pope Leo. Yesterday, he announced that he would meet with young people in Tor Vergata on August 2 and 3.
The appeals. At the end of the audience dedicated to the Gospel episode of the healing of the deaf man with speech impairment, Pope Leo renewed his “deep sorrow for the brutal terrorist attack in Komanda, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where over 50 Christians were killed in a church during a prayer vigil and in their own homes.” “As I entrust the victims to God’s loving mercy, I pray for the injured and for Christians around the world who continue to suffer violence and persecution. I urge all those with local and international responsibility to collaborate to prevent such tragedies,” said the Pope in his appeal.
“Today, more than ever, it is essential to safeguard the spirit of Helsinki: to persevere in dialogue, strengthen cooperation, and make diplomacy the preferred path to prevent and resolve conflicts”,
is the Pope’s second appeal, with the reminder that August 1 marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki Final Act. “Motivated by the desire to ensure security during the Cold War, 35 countries launched a new geopolitical chapter, fostering a rapprochement between East and West.” “That event – the Pope underlined – also marked renewed interest in human rights, with special emphasis on religious freedom—regarded as one of the cornerstones of the then emerging architecture of cooperation from Vancouver to Vladivostok”. “The Holy See’s active participation in the Helsinki Conference”, represented by Archbishop Agostino Casaroli, “helped to promote political and moral commitment to peace”, concluded Leo XIV.
The Pope’s greeting to Italian youths. “In greeting with particular affection all the young people present today who are participating in the Jubilee of Youth. Dear young people, I call on you to pray that these days of spirituality, reflection, and friendship may bear fruit”, the Pope said addressing Italian youths, in anticipation of Thursday evening’s celebration and prayer, which will include the Confession of Faith, in St. Peter’s Basilica. Addressing young people from Poland and other countries who had traveled to Rome for the Jubilee of Youth, Leo XIV said he hoped that “this encounter with Jesus in fraternal communion will strengthen your faith and hope, fill your hearts with peace, and unite you in His love.” “Receive these gifts from Christ and share them with your peers and compatriots in your homeland,” the Pope said. He encouraged the Portuguese youths “to use this experience to guide your friends toward Jesus, that they may encounter him, listen to his word, and love him.”
The Pope’s catechesis. “This time in which we live also needs healing”, Pope Leo said in the opening lines of his catechesis. “Our world is marked by a climate of violence and hatred that demeans human dignity”, remarked the Holy Father:
“We live in a society that is becoming ill due to a kind of ‘bulimia’ of social media connections: we are hyperconnected, bombarded by images, sometimes false or distorted.
We are overwhelmed by countless messages that stir within us a storm of contradictory emotions. In this scenario, it is possible that within us arises the desire to turn everything off. We may come to prefer not to feel anything anymore.
Even our words risk being misunderstood, and we may be tempted to close ourselves in silence, into a lack of communication where, despite our closeness, we are no longer able to say to one another the most simple and profound things.”
But “Closing in on oneself, in fact, is never a solution”, he remarked: after the encounter with Jesus, “that person not only begins to speak again, but he does so plainly.” “Perhaps this man had stopped speaking because he felt he was saying things the wrong way, perhaps he felt inadequate”, propounded Leo XIV: “All of us experience what it means to be misunderstood, to feel that we are not truly heard. All of us need to ask the Lord
to heal our way of communicating, not only so that we may be more effective, but also so that we may avoid wounding others with our words.”
“To begin speaking correctly again is the start of a journey, it is not yet the destination”, the Holy Father pointed out: “To truly know Jesus, one must complete a journey; one must remain with Him and also pass through His Passion. When we have seen Him humiliated and suffering, when we have experienced the saving power of His Cross, then we can say that we have truly come to know Him.” “There are no shortcuts to becoming disciples of Jesus”, the Pope explained: “let us ask the Lord that we may learn to communicate with honesty and prudence.” “Let us pray for all those who have been wounded by the words of others”, the final invocation: “Let us pray for the Church, that she may never fail in her mission to lead people to Jesus, so that they may hear His Word, be healed by it, and in turn become bearers of His message of salvation.”
