Dear young people,

On the occasion of the European Meeting organised by the Taizé Community, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has asked me to send you his warm greetings and the assurance of his spiritual closeness. Your gathering marks a new stage in the “pilgrimage of trust on earth” that Brother Roger began almost half a century ago here in the city of Paris. The Holy Father is delighted to know that you are gathered in a city marked by a rich religious heritage, shaped over the centuries by the luminous witness of so many figures of holiness who, each in their own way, responded boldly to Christ's call.

The theme of this year's letter written by Brother Matthew, Prior of Taizé, “What are you seeking?”, touches on an essential question that dwells in the heart of every human being. The Holy Father invites you not to fear this question, but to carry it in prayer and silence, convinced that Christ walks beside you and allows himself to be found by those who seek him with a sincere heart.

At the end of this year, marked by so many trials for our human family, the generous hospitality you receive in Paris from believers of all backgrounds and people of good will is a powerful message to the world. May the moments of prayer and sharing that you will experience during these days help you to deepen your faith, discerning ever more clearly how to live the Gospel in the concrete realities of your lives.

This meeting also takes place at a special moment in the life of the Church, marked by the conclusion of a Jubilee year and the commemorations of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. As Pope Leo XIV recently recalled during the ecumenical prayer meeting in İznik, “today, the whole of humanity afflicted by violence and conflict is crying out for reconciliation. The desire for full communion among all believers in Jesus Christ is always accompanied by the search for fraternity among all human beings”. The Holy Father encourages you to become pilgrims of trust, artisans of peace and reconciliation, capable of bringing humble and joyful hope to those around you. Entrusting you, as well as the Taizé Community and its ecumenical mission, to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, he cordially grants you his Apostolic Blessing.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State

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Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 27 December 2025