Vigil with Young People at the “Monumento de los Españoles”
At 19.45 (23.45 in Rome), the Holy Father Leo XIV left the Apostolic Nunciature and transferred by car to the Monumento de los Españoles for the Vigil with Young People at 20.15.
Upon arrival, after a tour among the faithful by open car, the Pope was welcomed by Archbishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva of Buenos Aires, and together they approached the stage accompanied by a musical performance.
After the words of welcome from the Archbishop of Buenos Aires and a testimony from a young man recovering from addiction, the Holy Father answered a question from a young woman engaged in service for people in difficulty. After the performance by the choir and a testimony from a young woman discerning her vocation, the Pope answered another question from a young member of the faithful.
Then the audience listened to another performance by the choir and watched an artistic interlude, folk dances and a tango performance.
This was followed by the introduction to the prayer, the invocation of the Holy Spirit, a moment of reflection and prayer, and a symbolic gesture of light with the lighting of the candles.
At the end, Pope Leo XIV delivered his address.
The celebration concluded with the Lord’s Prayer, the blessing and a final hymn.
The Vigil with young people at the Monumento de los Españoles in Buenos Aires was attended by approximately one million people.
At approximately 22.10, the Holy Father entered his car and transferred to the Apostolic Nunciature.
The Holy Father's answers during the prayer vigil with young people
Address of the Holy Father
The Holy Father's answers during the prayer vigil with young people
1. Agustina Flores: Holy Father, how can we cope with frustration and our own limitations when we reach out to those who are most excluded, yet are unable to accompany them as we would wish? How can we continue walking by their side when we feel that what we do is not enough?
First of all, good evening, and thank you! What a wonderful welcome — one that perhaps only Argentina can give!
Thank you for your question, Agustina, and for the affection you show those young people. I understand how you feel. I know it is difficult, but do not lose hope. Saint Ignatius of Loyola used to say: “Act as if everything depended on you, knowing that in reality everything depends on God” (cf. P. de Ribadeneira, Life of Sain Ignatius, V, XI). Do all that you can, put your whole heart into it and join your efforts to those of others. When you come to the end of your strength, remember that God’s strength never runs out. Jesus spoke to us of a seed that grows while the sower sleeps (cf. Mk 4:26-27). We will not always see the fruits of what we sow, but we can trust that God continues to look after them. So keep Saint Nazaria’s words close to your heart: “Onward, always onward!” The Lord walks with you!
2. Franco Pugliese: Holy Father, how can I bring together these two aspects of my life: the love I experience in the parish and at home, and my work responsibilities and the other demands of everyday life?
I would like to thank you for your testimonies and your questions. After listening to Guadalupe, I would like to take the opportunity to say that I know there are many young people who feel called to give their lives to Christ, in the consecrated life, in the priesthood and also in family life. Indeed, Christ continues to call. Do not be afraid to respond!
Thank you for this question, Franco. Think of the years Jesus spent in Nazareth, working with his hands and sharing in family life. The Son of God chose to live in this way! He taught us that we can encounter him even in the ordinary things of life. That is why we do not have to live two separate lives, one for God and another for our daily occupations, as if they were somehow at odds with one another. When you work, study or spend time with your friends, do so with love and offer it to the Lord. In this way, your work too becomes prayer and a path to holiness. So, Franco, bring your whole life to the altar each time you take part in the Eucharist. Then return to your daily occupations with joy, knowing that Jesus is waiting for you there too. Thank you very much.
Address of the Holy Father
Thank you very much! Thank you, everyone!
Dear young people, dear friends, welcome, everyone!
It is a joy for me to be here once again, this time to meet with all of you. Good evening! The Monument of the Spanish features sculptures representing four great regions of Argentina: the Andes, the Chaco, the Pampas and the Río de la Plata. How beautiful that there are so many young people who come from these regions! I greet you all.
Thank you for this warm welcome, as well as for your questions and testimonies. I also thank Archbishop García Cuerva, Archbishop of this city, for his kind words. We wanted to begin this gathering with a sign: the flame of our candles. Let us listen to Jesus’ words: “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Lk 12:49). It is the fire of his love, communicated through the Holy Spirit, which purifies our hearts and makes us capable of loving.
I would also like to speak to you about another fire: the one in a furnace in Babylon. The Book of the Prophet Daniel (cf. 1:3-7, 17-20; 2:49; 3:1-93) tells us the story of three young men: Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael. They were living in exile in that land, where they learned another language, received new names and found a place in the administration of the kingdom. They had a future ahead of them. Then came the day when they had to decide to whom they would give their hearts. King Nebuchadnezzar had erected an immense golden statue and ordered everyone to bow down before it. Anyone who refused would be thrown into a blazing furnace. Imagine the scene: a multitude bowing before the colossal statue, while only three young men remain standing.
The king offered them one last chance. All it would take was a single gesture for them to continue living their lives in peace. The young men replied that God could deliver them from the fire, but they added: “But if not” (3:18), they would still not worship the statue. What freedom there is in that response! They did not know what was going to happen. They knew the punishment that awaited them, but they also knew that they would find happiness only in God.
Dear friends, today too, 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. Envy can prevent us from rejoicing in the good of another, while selfishness can lead us to treat people as objects. There are also those who make a business of offering pleasures that ultimately enslave us, such as pornography and addictive substances. Agustín told us: “Today I stand firm.” How powerful those words become when we remember the three young men in Babylon! You too are called to stand firm before the idols of our time. Do not bow down before anything that cannot give you life. And if you have ever fallen, get back up. Do not allow anything or anyone to take away the freedom God has given you.
During World Youth Day in Lisbon, Pope Francis spoke words that spread throughout the world: “Everyone, everyone, everyone!” (Welcome Ceremony, 3 August 2023). He repeated them with his characteristic insistence, as though he wanted to make sure that no one had failed to hear them. I would like to draw inspiration from those words to speak about what it means to live as disciples of Jesus: everyone toward Christ, everyone with Christ, everyone like Christ.
First of all, everyone toward Christ. Some of you have grown up close to Jesus, and others are only now beginning to seek him. Others still have not prayed for a long time, or have drifted away from the Church, or have been hurt by people who should have accompanied them. To each of you I would like to say that there is a place for you in the Church, with your questions, your wounds and your story. This is your home too. You do not have to pretend that everything is fine or wait until you have your life sorted out before drawing near. And to you, who think it is already too late to begin again, I would like to say: welcome. Whoever you are and whatever you may have done, Jesus Christ knows you, Jesus Christ loves you and wants you to be close to him.
As we have heard, one question changed Guadalupe’s life: “Who told you it was too late?” Tonight, I would like to repeat that question to those who believe they have strayed too far and to those who have at some point perceived from others that there was no place for them in the Church. The Lord is seeking you! Remember Zacchaeus. He climbed a tree to see Jesus and discovered that Jesus was also looking for him. Jesus called him by name and wanted to stay at his house. That encounter led Zacchaeus to make amends for the injustices he had committed (cf. Lk 19:1-10). No one has fallen so low that Christ cannot raise them up. May our communities always keep their doors open; may they know how to welcome those who arrive with questions, assist those who suffer and patiently accompany those who are seeking God.
Now let us return to Babylon. The three young men were bound and thrown into the furnace. The flames rose with such violence that they reached those who were carrying out the sentence. But the king saw something beyond comprehension: he had thrown three men into the furnace, yet now he could make out four, walking freely amid the flames, for the Lord had sent his angel to protect them. They had been thrown in bound, but now they were walking freely! The king had condemned them to the fire, but God had not abandoned them. Here we find our second “everyone”: everyone with Christ.
We know the full meaning of that gesture. Humanity had been subjected to death because of sin, but God came to meet us. The Son of God became man, shared our sufferings and took our sins upon himself. Out of love for us, he gave his life on the Cross and rose again on the third day. Jesus Christ is alive! Jesus Christ He has conquered death and set us free from its power. Dear young people, Christ loves us and wants us to share in his own life. He has promised to remain with his disciples until the end of the age (cf. Mt 28:20). Christ offers you a life that not even death can take away.
There is one detail in the story that moves me deeply. From within the furnace, Azariah raised a prayer: “With a contrite heart and a humble spirit may we be accepted” (Dan 3:39). That young man had stood up to the king, yet he acknowledged before God his need for mercy. What an admirable prayer! We too need to pray it. We all know the distance that sometimes exists between the good we desire and the choices we make. And we all need conversion.
Christ loves us as we are, but his love is too great to leave us prisoners of sin, of what destroys us. The fire he came to bring has the power to break our chains and restore our freedom to love. There are wounds to be healed, failings to be acknowledged and, whenever possible, wrongs to be made right. Allow Christ to transform you. Do not be afraid to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation. How wonderful it is to know that our sins can be forgiven. Pray, read the Gospel and draw near to the Eucharist. The One who gave his life for us awaits us.
In the midst of the furnace, the three young men began to sing. They invited the heavens and the stars, the mountains, the rivers and all living creatures to bless the Lord. They even said: “Bless the Lord, fire and heat” (3:66). They were inviting the very fire that surrounded them to join in their praise. Their song grew ever wider until it embraced all of creation. I like to think that this song continues to this day, and that every generation can add its own voice to it. How beautiful it would be if everything we do could become an act of praise. Perhaps today we could sing: Art and culture, bless the Lord. Games and sports, bless the Lord. Science and technology, bless the Lord. Social media and screens, bless the Lord. Music and soccer, bless the Lord. Let everything that exists bless the Lord and praise him with hymns forever!
At the beginning of the story, the king had ordered everyone to worship his statue. At the end, those young men invited everyone to bless the Lord. The king needed threats to make people bow down; the young men, who had no power other than their faith, invited the entire universe to share in their joy. And so we arrive at the third “everyone”: everyone like Christ.
Dear young people, whoever encounters Christ is called to live as he did (cf. 1 Jn 2:6). And that is what I would like to invite you to do tonight: become saints. The saints too knew their weaknesses, but it was God’s grace that transformed their lives and taught them how to love. Jesus showed us the way: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34). Behind that “just as” lies an image we should never forget: Jesus kneeling before his disciples to wash their feet. The Lord of everyone became the servant of everyone.
You too can wash the feet of your brothers and sisters. 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. There are also forms of suffering that cannot be seen: some need guidance or correction, others await words of consolation, and still others need to know that they are loved. The Lord gives us so many opportunities to be like him. May your lives become pages of the Gospel, written in the ink of mercy, so that those who meet you may recognize in you something of the love and joy of Jesus.
Our joy is born of friendship with him and impels us to bring him to others. Remember the disciples on the road to Emmaus. When they recognized the Risen Lord in the breaking of the bread, they said to one another: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road?” (Lk 24:32). That very night they returned to Jerusalem. They could not keep to themselves the joy of knowing that Christ was alive! At the beginning, I said to you: “Welcome, everyone!” Now, as the Successor of Peter, I entrust to you the second part of our motto: “Go and proclaim!” Go to your cities and towns, to every corner and every periphery. May those who feel far from God discover through you that Christ is seeking them.
In a little while, I will bless the cross that will travel through your communities. As that cross passes from one pair of hands to another, may the fire of Christ’s love also pass from one heart to another. May Our Lady of Luján accompany you and always guide you along this path: everyone towards Christ, everyone with Christ, everyone like Christ! Go and proclaim!
