“I’m so excited, so happy. I got the paper,” referring to the L’Osservatore Romano. “ I’ve been here for hours just praying and crying. It was the most fantastic thing,” one young woman from Chicago shared.
When asked what she wants this papacy to do for the world, she replied, “I want it to deepen the Church and have more people come to the Church.”
Since being elected in May, young people from around the world have enthusiastically welcomed Pope Leo XIV as their new Holy Father.
And, to this day, his message of peace, unity, and communion with God and others continues to inspire the Church’s young faithful.
In a Video Message to the young people of Chicago and the entire world, the Pope said, “I’d like to say that you are the promise of hope for so many of us. The world looks to you as you look around yourselves and say: we need you, we want you to come together to share with us in this common mission, as Church and in society, of announcing a message of true hope and of promoting peace, promoting harmony, among all peoples.”
While thousands of young Catholics continue to ponder the meaning of Pope Leo’s words in their own lives. Caritas Youth have swiftly taken up his call to “Turn Hope Into Action” by serving the world’s most vulnerable.
As the Church’s young humanitarians, they support thousands of communities and families in regions impacted by war, poverty, and natural disasters.
In Rome for the 2025 Jubilee of Youth, Caritas workers and volunteers shared with Vaticano why they believe Pope Leo’s leadership is important for the world today.
Maria Mi Kyong Kim from Caritas Korea said, “Well I think his first words out ‘Peace be with you’ was very strong and powerful to many, I think, and also to me personally because, I think, peace is perhaps the essence of everything.
“At this moment, there are so many protracted crises and so many countries that are facing economic failures, but if you look deep down there is always that issue of ‘peace’ within the country and also with neighboring countries and there are always constant conflicts.
“And I think having peace in mind and spiritually is more important than ever.”
According to Caritas Africa youth delegate Vincent Tenthani — who coordinates humanitarian, food and nutrition projects in his region — young men and women have the capacity to take on great challenges and be agents of positive change.
Vincent Tenthani from Caritas Malawi added, “I think it would be good if Pope Leo also put the young people at the heart of the Church, as we say the youth are not only the leaders of tomorrow but, even so, for today — so it’s exciting! We are looking forward to work with him.”
Further, “It’s good to work for the Church as a young person because we have the energy, we have the expertise, and its that energy that the Church needs to reach out to the peripheral areas in our communities — to reach out to the most marginalized people in the areas — because we have the capacity to move around, to travel around than, you know, our elder parents and other people.”
For Julius Sjödin Lindholm, from Caritas Sweden — a recent convert to Catholicism whose “Pope Hope” is for Leo XIV to continue Francis’ legacy of love for the poor — being young is not an obstacle to realize the Church’s mission to bring Christ’s love into your own communities.
He added, “I would say there is always something to do…. There’s always help that is needed…. And even though you may have difficulties in the formal organization of your parish or diocese to get things started, there’s always the possibility of just doing work and getting out there.”
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Adapted by Jacob Stein. Produced by Alexey Gotovsky; Camera by Sergio Natoli; Video Edited by Alessio Di Cintio
