By Currents News and Junno Arocho Esteves
ROME (CNS) — Addressing an estimated 1 million young people, Pope Leo XIV urged them to forge genuine relationships rooted in Christ rather than ephemeral online connections that can reduce individuals to a commodity.
“When a tool controls someone, that person becomes a tool: a commodity on the market and, in turn, a piece of merchandise,” the pope said during the evening prayer vigil for the Jubilee of Youth Aug. 2. “Only genuine relationships and stable connections can build good lives.”
The pope arrived by helicopter at the Tor Vergata field, roughly eight miles southeast of Rome’s city center, and was greeted with cheers from young people waving flags. Many of the youth were going to camp out overnight, sleeping in tents and sleeping bags on the dusty field, much like the World Youth Day celebration held 25 years ago in the same location.
Countless young people kicked up the dust from the field as they ran alongside the popemobile to catch a glimpse of the pontiff. Pope Leo smiled and waved at the youth, occasionally catching objects and plush toys that were hurled his way.
Exiting the popemobile, he was handed the large Jubilee year cross, which he carried to the main altar, accompanied by dozens of young people.
After beginning the vigil with prayers, the pope engaged in a dialogue with several young people who asked him three questions.
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Dulce Maria, a 23-year-old woman from Mexico, spoke of the excitement of online friendships but also of the loneliness that comes from connections that are “not true and lasting relationships, but rather fleeting and often illusory.”
“How can we find true friendship and genuine love that will lead us to true hope? How can faith help us build our future?” she asked.
Pope Leo acknowledged the potential of the internet and social media as “an extraordinary opportunity for dialogue,” but warned that these tools “are misleading when they are controlled by commercialism and interests that fragment our relationships.”
Young pilgrims smile as they await the start of a prayer vigil with Pope Leo XIV at Tor Vergata in Rome Aug. 2, 2025, during the Jubilee of Youth. (Photo: CNS/Lola Gomez)
Drawing from his Augustinian spirituality, Pope Leo urged young people to emulate St. Augustine, who had a “restless youth, but he did not settle for less.”
“How did he find true friendship and a love capable of giving hope? By finding the one who was already looking for him, Jesus Christ,” the pope said. “How did he build his future? By following the one who had always been his friend.”
Gaia, a 19-year-old woman from Italy, asked how young people can find the courage to make choices amid uncertainty.
“To choose is a fundamental human act,” the pope responded. “When we make a choice, in the strict sense, we decide who we want to become.”
He encouraged young people to remember the