THE Pope was given a rock-star welcome by tons of of 1000’s of younger devotees at an occasion dubbed the Catholic Woodstock.
Leo XIV arrived by helicopter on Saturday for the occasion on a area on the outskirts of Rome.
4
The first US-born pope, 69, was greeted by deafening screams from the pilgrims, who had gathered in Italy from practically 150 nations and spent a lot of the week dwelling in tents at Tor Vergata.
He led a vigil on Saturday night time and yesterday morning returned for a Mass, thought to have been attended by one million individuals.
In his first large encounter with the subsequent technology of Catholics, the Pontiff spoke in Spanish, Italian and English as he instructed them: “Friendship can actually change the world.
“Friendship is a path to peace.
“How a lot the world wants missionaries of the Gospel who’re witnesses of justice and peace.”
On the Mass he instructed his viewers they stood alongside the younger of Gaza and Ukraine.
Francisco Michel, a pilgrim from Mexico, described the pontiff’s arrival as a “religious progress”.
He mentioned: “It’s one thing religious which you could expertise solely each 25 years.
“As a teen, having the prospect to dwell this assembly with the Pope, I really feel it’s a religious progress.”
The week-long Jubilee of Youth competition, known as a Catholic Woodstock by Italian media, is a spotlight of the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Yr.
4
4
