This was the moment that a crowd of over 16,000 young people in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA were introduced to Pope Leo XIV via virtual connection.
Pope Leo's first words to the crowd were fun-facts related to what sort of socks he wears and his Wordle puzzle everyday.
POPE LEO
Thank you for your question, Mia. Before I answer it, I just want to say I only wear white socks, and I use a different word for Wordle everyday.
This meeting took place amidst the National Catholic Youth Conference and provided several teen representatives with the opportunity to ask Pope Leo XIV questions about their faith and their lives.
POPE LEO
These years of your life are meant to help you grow into mature adults. Spiritually, this means deepening your friendship with God and becoming more like Him. Intellectually, it means learning to think clearly, to think critically, to examine reality, and to search for truth, beauty, and goodness.
Pope Leo went on to encourage the youth in the crowd to find time for silence, genuine friendships, and prayer in order to grow in faith and happiness.
POPE LEO
During Eucharist adoration, you can look at Jesus in the blessed sacrament, and you know that he looks at you and he looks at you with love. He often speaks to us gently, in stillness. That is why daily moments of silence are so important whether through adoration, reading scripture, talking to Him, looking for those little spaces of time.
Pope Leo closed out the conference by reminding the crowd that their participation in the Church is not a matter of the future, but of the present.
POPE LEO XIV
Let me begin with something important. You are not only the future of the Church. You are the present - your voices. The National Catholic Youth Conference has taken place annually for the past 42 years and is the biggest Catholic Youth Conference in America.
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