Pope Leo speaks to young residents of Monaco, answering questions on faith and doubt, and urging his listeners to “pour yourselves out completely for the Lord and for others.”
By Joseph Tulloch
By around midday, thousands of young people from across Monaco were gathered the area in front of the Church of St Devota for an encounter with Pope Leo, the last event of a packed morning for the visiting Pope.
Four young residents of the microstate had been chosen to ask Pope Leo a question. The first was Benjamin, a 22-year-old student and a practicing Catholic, who asked him for advice on “remaining confident and holding on to hope” in the midst of environmental problems and violent conflict.
In his reply, the Pope emphasised the sense of “unity”, with oneself and with others, that comes from developing a relationship with Christ.
“It is love that gives stability to life,” the Pope said: first and foremost “the fundamental experience of God’s love, and then, by extension, the sacred and enlightening experience of mutual love.”
Young people wait for the Pope’s arrival (@Vatican Media)
Prayer and reflection to ‘quiet the frenzy of doing and saying’
The next question came from Andreia, a 24-year-old Catholic originally from Portugal, who asked how, in moments of “doubt and inner emptiness”, she could ensure that her faith “remains firm and alive”.
The Pope, in his reply, stressed the importance of “clearing the doorway of the heart” of unimportant concerns in order to leave room for the Holy Spirit.
This, he emphasised, “requires prayer and moments of silence and reflection” to “quiet the frenzy of doing and saying, of messages, reels and chats” – and also spending time in person with others, in order to “savour the beauty of truly and genuinely being together.”
Pope Leo greets some of the young people gathered for the event (@Vatican Media)
Hope ‘cannot be improvised’
The Pope then answered questions from Ethan, a 25 year-old man who will be baptised this Easter, and Sophia, a 35 year-old doctor.
Both asked him about concrete ways of witnessing to the Gospel in their daily lives – Ethan wondering how to testify to the “love which has changed our lives” and Sophie asking how to grow in charity toward others.
In response, Pope Leo stressed that “words and deeds of witness and hope cannot be improvised.”
Such actions, the Pope emphasised, “are not the fruit of our own efforts, but come from a profound relationship with God”.
If we are open to receive God’s grace, the Pope emphasised, “we can trust that the precise words, as well as the strength needed to act, will come at the right time.”
The Pope reads his answers to the questions (@Vatican Media)
‘Self-giving’ as the secret to joy
Bringing his speech to a close, Pope Leo urged Monaco’s young people to “pour yourselves out completely for the Lord and for others.”
“Only in this way”, the Pope stressed, “will you find an everlasting joy and an ever-deeper meaning in life.”
This meaning, he suggested, could play out at a national level too: “Monaco is a small country, but it can be a great place of solidarity and a beacon of hope.”
