Pope Francis celebrates final mass of World Youth Day
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
31.07.2016 14:45
Pope Francis bid farewell to around two million pilgrims who came to Kraków for World Youth Day with a mass on the final day of the event on Sunday.
Pope Francis waves from the Popemobile upon his arrival to celebrate a Mass for the World Youth Day at the Campus Misericordiae in Brzegi, Poland, 31 July 2016. Photo: EPA/DANIEL DAL ZENNARO
World Youth Day in the city of Kraków, southern Poland, was one of the largest religious gatherings in the world.
In the final homily, Pope Francis said God “demands of us real courage, the courage to be more powerful than evil, by loving everyone, even our enemies”.
He also encouraged young people gathered near Kraków to believe "in a new humanity, one that rejects hatred between peoples.”
The pontiff urged young pilgrims to adopt an attitude of commitment, “to take a risk, because life is not meant to be tucked away”.
“Trust the memory of God: his memory is not a hard disk that saves and archives all our data, but a heart filled with tender compassion,” the pope added.
Pope Francis also announced that the next World Youth Day will be held in Panama in 2019.
He later met World Youth Day volunteers, its organizing committee and charity donors.
The pontiff flew back to Rome on Sunday evening.
During his five-day pilgrimage to Poland, Pope Francis visited the former Nazi German Auschwitz concentration camp, celebrated masses and held a number of meetings with young Catholic faithful from all over the world. (ał/rg)
Source: IAR, Vatican Radio