The following is the text of the Video Message sent by the Holy Father Leo XIV to young people on the occasion of the Seventh National Youth Day in Ecuador, which took place at Ibarra from 31 July to 2 August 2026:

Video Message of the Holy Father

Dear young Ecuadorians,

I greet you affectionately as you prepare for the Seventh National Youth Day, to be celebrated in Ibarra, on the theme: “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33).

I encourage you to heed the Lord’s call and to follow Him with determination. An encounter with Jesus Christ fills the heart with joy and gives us the strength to bear witness to His love and mercy.

Dear friends, the Church today needs your joy, courage and witness so that many others may encounter Christ. Allow yourselves to be transformed by his love and be promoters of forgiveness, reconciliation and peace.

I entrust all young people in Ecuador to Our Lady of the Presentation. May Mary be the model who inspires you to live the Gospel and to offer yourselves, as she did, to God’s plan for your lives.

I bless you from the bottom of my heart, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.