By Francis X. Rocca
EWTN News
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Pope Leo XIV appealed to young people to reject worldly distractions and follow Christ, assuring them that their past mistakes are no obstacle to joining the Church.
“Dear young people, Christ loves us and wants us to share in his own life,” Leo told an estimated 1 million participants at a vigil on Nov. 10, his last night in Argentina. “Christ offers you a life that not even death can take away.”
The event took place at the same site in northern Buenos Aires where Pope Leo had celebrated Mass the previous day, drawing an estimated 2.5 million people. The crowds in Argentina have been by far the largest of his pontificate.
The pope’s speech came after testimonies and questions from young people, including a man recovering from drug addiction.
Pope Leo urged his listeners to reject what he called “the idols of our time,” which cannot provide happiness or life.
“Idols arise and demand our worship: success at any cost, money, an obsession with appearance, popularity or the unrestrained pursuit of pleasure. Sometimes, in order to win the approval of others, we may go so far as to lie, betray or humiliate someone on social media,” the pope said.
“There are also those who make a business of offering pleasures that ultimately enslave us, such as pornography and addictive substances,” he added.
Pope Leo cited Pope Francis’ insistence that “everyone, everyone, everyone” is welcome in the Church.
“Whoever you are and whatever you may have done, Jesus Christ knows you, loves you and wants you to be close to him,” the pope said. “No one has fallen so low that Christ cannot raise them up.”
He added that “we all need conversion” and that welcome is not the equivalent of moral indifference.
“Christ loves us as we are, but his love is too great to leave us prisoners of sin, of what destroys us,” Pope Leo said. “There are wounds to be healed, failings to be acknowledged and, whenever possible, wrongs to be made right.”
He urged his listeners to confess their sins, pray, read Scripture and receive the Eucharist in order to be transformed by Christ.
“Share your bread with those who are hungry, open your doors to those who have no home, visit the sick and those whom no one wants to visit,” the pope told his young listeners, as part of his program for their pursuit of sanctity.
On Wednesday, following a pilgrimage to Argentina’s most prominent Marian shrine, in Luján, Pope Leo was scheduled to leave for Peru, the last stop on his tour of South America.
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