Pope Francis has struck a special chord with the youth. He has always been close with young people. He served many years as a secondary school teacher and later as a confessor and spiritual director popular among the youth when he was an auxiliary bishop. He understands them. The youth, and particularly the current generation, respect authenticity in a person’s character. They are very sensitive to hypocrisy, respecting a genuine person even if they may disagree with them. Pope Francis offers young people authenticity, simplicity, action, and truth.
World Youth Day 2013 was scheduled through July 23-28, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Prior to his resignation, it was not clear that Pope Benedict would be able to make the trip for the 28th World Youth Day because of his health. His doctors, in fact, had told him he could not take an international flight. By July 2013, as providence would have it, it would be Pope Francis' turn to celebrate the perennial celebration of the world’s Catholic youth founded by Pope John Paul II. This time the celebration took place in Rio, which is in Pope Francis' native Latin America.
Having carried his own luggage onto Shepherd 1, the Alitalia plane used by the Pope and those traveling with him, Pope Francis greeted the thousands of young people who came to the airport to welcome him on July 22, “I ask permission to come in and spend this week with you” (as reported in coverage by National Catholic Reporter). If Pope Francis needed an answer, he would soon find it. The popemobile, as it made its way to the presidential palace, had to take a detour as it slowly inched forward because of the crowds and congestion. Enthusiastic crowds took the opportunity to jump right in and lovingly surround the Holy Father’s vehicle, hoping to touch him. While the papal security was alarmed, Pope Francis felt very much at home, shaking hands through the window and greeting well-wishers. To make for more security headaches, but to the delight of the crowds, Pope Francis had eschewed the popemobile, closed in by bulletproof glass, for an open-air white Jeep, just as he has opted for in Rome.
An hour late, Pope Francis finally reached the presidential palace. He expressed his joy to be back in Latin America, attributing it to God’s “loving providence” that Pope Benedict had selected Rio for the event. Echoing St. Peter, he told the crowds, “I have neither silver nor gold, but I bring with me the most precious thing given to me: Jesus Christ!” Having visited the rich, Pope Francis did not forget the poor. He headed later that day to the favelas, the slums that surround Rio’s modern skyline, to spend time with the poorest in the city as he was accustomed to doing in Buenos Aires. He told them, “The Brazilian people, particularly the humblest among you, can offer the world a valuable lesson in solidarity, a word that is too often forgotten or silenced because it is uncomfortable.”
On July 24, Pope Francis spoke to journalists about the problems faced by young people today. Recalling the lessons he learned on the value of work from his own youth, the Holy Father shared, “The young, at this time, are in a situation of crisis. We are somewhat accustomed to this culture of rejection: too often we discard the elderly. But now, also with the young unemployed, the culture of rejection reaches them too. We have to eliminate this habit of rejection!”
As a cardinal, Pope Francis, would often hear confessions at major events. He continued this practice; he joined his brother priests in hearing the confessions of young people at Quinta da Boa Vista Park in Rio, on July 26. After participating in a full schedule of events with the youth of the world gathered in Rio, Pope Francis was joined by over three million young people for Sunday Mass on the expansive beaches of Copacabana, a site more familiar with partying than papal services. He told the young people, recapping his homily, “Go, do not be afraid, and serve. If you follow these three ideas, you will experience that the one who evangelizes is evangelized, the one who transmits the joy of faith receives more joy.” The Holy Father believes very much that the young people are the ones that will reach the most young people for Christ. The youth at Rio placed their trust in Pope Francis. When departing for Rome on July 29, Pope Francis told the youth, “I will always place my hopes in young people.”
Pope Francis would meet again shortly with the youth. He gathered with about 20,000 young people outside Our Lady of the Angels Basilica in Assisi on October 4, towards the end of his celebration of the memorial of St. Francis. There, he answered a number of their questions. While the millennial generation has often been noted for its lack of commitment, Pope Francis told the young people not to be afraid: “I want to tell you not to be afraid of taking definitive steps in life.” He told them, “I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, I ask you to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes you are incapable of responsibility - that believes you are incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you. Have the courage to swim against the tide. And also have the courage to be happy.” He explained that marriage and the priesthood are the kind of definitive commitments through which we find fulfillment. “One time I heard a good seminarian say: I want to become a priest for ten years. Then I will think about it again. That’s the culture of provisionality. Jesus did not save us provisionally, he saved us definitively.”
Pope Francis also encouraged the young people to see marriage as a true vocation, telling them, “It takes courage to start a family.” He also denounced the culture of divorce which has increased in recent decades: “You know that marriage is for a lifetime? ‘Yes, we love each other, but we’ll stay together as long as love lasts. When it’s over, we go our separate ways.’ That is selfishness.”
At the same time, Pope Francis has also expressed pastoral concern for Catholics who are divorced and remarried. It is a practice that is contrary to the Church’s teachings, yet many Catholics find themselves today in that state and may not receive Communion. The Holy Father calls such persons to participate actively in parish life and to stay close to Christ. Meanwhile, Pope Francis called together his first extraordinary Synod of Bishops to meet in October 2014 to discuss the topic of family and marriage, an institution that is so essential to society, but remains in crisis.