Pope Leo celebrates Mass with young people at Franciscan Youth Meeting in Assisi

Vatican City, August 6, 2026: Pope Leo celebrated Mass on Thursday in the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels for thousands of young people from across Europe taking part in Go!, the 2026 Franciscan Youth Meeting.

During the Mass, the Pope urged the young participants to go “to the margins” of society, “where the injustice and arrogance of a few deny the dignity and dreams of many”.

“We are called to read the Scriptures with the Master,” Pope Leo said, “to interpret our times, and to make decisions as we walk in His footsteps. We are here to overcome resignation and fear, to untangle the doubts that hold us back just as they held back the apostles. Jesus calls us into a dialogue with His story so that we may write new pages of history.”

Reflecting on the significance of Assisi, the Pope said it is a place where “everything whispers that our lives can be transformed, unleash light, and repair the world.” He reminded the faithful that it was in Assisi that “the transfiguration of Francis, of Clare, and then of thousands of other young people” first began.

Listening and decision-making

Beginning his homily on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Pope Leo reflected on Jesus’ Transfiguration.

He noted that Jesus was “transfigured precisely in conversation with the Father, with those who preceded him — Moses and Elijah — and with his contemporaries, the disciples.”

The Pope said the Church exists “to draw us into this dynamic of listening and deciding, helping us understand for whom to live and how to live.”

He also emphasised that the Church is “the community where we learn to distinguish the voice of God”, adding that it teaches people “to dare that obedience to the Holy Spirit that made bold and creative all those who agreed to follow Jesus.”

Embracing ‘Sister Poverty’

Speaking about Saint Francis and Saint Clare, Pope Leo said that while Francis’ decision to renounce the world was revolutionary, Clare’s choice was “even more striking”. Like Francis, he said, Clare “wanted to live … in true freedom”, describing this as the “energy” of Christianity—“that of beginnings and many fresh starts”.

Addressing the young people, he said, “And so, dear young people, today Europe and the whole world are looking to you for new saints: dare to believe in the word of the Gospel, become fully human with the freedom of Jesus Christ, and embrace Sister Poverty! The title of your gathering—Go!—is a mission, a sending out onto roads for which we have no maps, because they open up as we listen to the heart, obey the Spirit, and follow the Risen Lord where He has chosen to go before us.”

The Pope also reminded them that this mission should be carried out without distancing themselves “from the wounds of the Lord,” recalling Pope Francis’ words in Evangelii gaudium. He quoted his predecessor, who wrote that “Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. He expects us to stop looking for those personal or communal niches that allow us to keep our distance from the heart of human suffering.”

Committing to the civilisation of love

Pope Leo acknowledged that following Christ may not always be understood, saying that his listeners “might not be understood, even by those in your own home—just as happened to Saint Francis,” but stressed that “stepping away from the culture of power and tearing down the walls that divide human beings is never a betrayal of family, city, or tradition.”

Instead, he said, it frees people “from their ghosts, from enemies invented out of fear and ignorance, and from the violence that seeks to impose its own neat little order on a reality that vastly exceeds us on every side.”

“To trust in God is to discover, like Francis and Clare, a world of brothers and sisters to be appreciated and served, not exploited and dominated,” the Pope said. “Not a world to be defended, but one to be embraced.”

Courtesy: Vatican News