Pope Leo XIV Tells Over Half a Million Youth "Seek...God's love in your hearts!" - "You can change history! Do it with love!" in Spain FULL TEXT + Video

The final event of Pope Leo XIV's first day in Spain took place at Madrid's Plaza de Lima where he led a youth prayer vigil. Over six hundred thousand lined the main avenue leading to the square and the surrounding streets to participate in the celebration which consisted of youth representatives asking the Pope questions about faith, testimony and life in the modern age, with the Pope answering each question. The prayer vigil with Eucharistic adoration marked the final celebration and event on the Pope's very busy Saturday agenda of his week-long visit to the nation. After introductory words from Madrid's Metropolitan Archbishop, Cardinal José Cobo Cano, who spoke about the challenges facing today's youth.
PRAYER VIGIL WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
FULL TEXT ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER

“Plaza de Lima” (Madrid) on Saturday, June 6, 2026
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(1) We know that St. Augustine is very important to you, but what other saints and what other role models have helped you in your growth as a Christian?

(2) I would like to ask you now about your years as a missionary in Peru. What memory or experience do you treasure from those years?

Well, first of all: greetings to you all! Thank you for being here and thank you for sharing the faith with all of Madrid and all of Spain. Regarding the first question about some saints who have been role models for me during my childhood and youth, but also as a bishop and as Pope… You have already mentioned Saint Augustine—and we all know that Saint Augustine is a very important figure for the entire Church—but I also thought of one of the Fathers of the Eastern Church named Saint John Chrysostom. His name means “golden mouth,” a title that this Father of the Church deserved because he possessed such beautiful eloquence. Before his baptism, which took place in 368 AD, he studied philosophy. Afterward, he dedicated himself to the exegesis of Sacred Scripture, along with other young men from Antioch, his hometown. After a period as a hermit, he devoted himself to the service of the Church as a priest and then as a bishop. And here I take the opportunity to say to all of you: Never be afraid to consider a vocation to the priesthood, to religious life, or to other services in the Church! For John Chrysostom, who carried in his heart this love for the Word of God, after being a priest and bishop, gave a powerful witness, above all through the consistency of his life. If he preached, it was because he lived that message. I have personally been particularly impressed by his catechesis, his sermons, his homilies, and his writings, which combine a love for truth with the uprightness of his life. But he also possessed great courage. He was not afraid to speak before the Emperor, to say things that were in favor of justice and not merely to please others. He was a man of his word.

Another saint I've thought of is Saint Thomas of Villanova, an Augustinian friar, who was also called to become a pastor of the Church. He was Spanish. He studied at the University of Alcalá and, because of his wisdom, earned the esteem of Emperor Charles V. Later, he was appointed Bishop of Valencia and undertook an intense work of reforming the Church, especially the clergy, exhorting his brothers to perseverance in prayer, in a life of chastity, and in obedience. Because of his ardent charity, he is known to this day as "the Bishop of the Poor." For this charity has sustained me in times of trial and in times of service.

Another fellow traveler is Saint Toribio de Mogrovejo, also Spanish. In the 16th century, he was a missionary in Peru, where he dedicated himself with great zeal to evangelization, studying the local languages. Saint Toribio combined an intense life of prayer with a commitment to justice, especially in the face of the abuses and corruption of his time. For this reason, he is, for me, a model of dedication to the people, especially the poorest, in the name of Christ.

Contemplating the lives of these saints, like St. Augustine, I said to myself: if they were capable, why can't I? (cf. Confessions , VIII, 27). A question I gladly entrust to you as well, inviting you to choose examples of good living that are attractive both to yourselves and to others.

Well, regarding the years I spent in Peru, first as a missionary and then as a bishop, I remember above all the people's witness of faith, marked by many hardships, yet full of hope. It was precisely this encounter with the people's wounds and also their joys that helped me grow on the path of following Jesus. As I proclaimed him, I too was transformed by the Gospel, transformed by the life and faith of these people, often materially very poor, but rich in faith. And experiencing this faith in the word of the Lord, I have seen how the Word of God can transform conflict into peace. It can be a source of reconciliation, peace, and justice.

(3) What do you think would help us to recognize God's voice among many other voices?

(4) How can we, also seekers, accompany them in their process of discovering the beauty of faith?

First, we can talk about how to listen to this voice of God, how to discern if it is truly God who is speaking or something else, another attraction, another difficulty.

To recognize God's voice, silence can help us above all. I believe it's very important for each of us to cultivate the ability to be silent. Often we go about with headphones on, listening to music, distracted by other things, and we don't know how to be silent. I think it's often precisely in this experience of silence that God can speak to us or where we can discern God's voice. When we seek silence, we decide what not to listen to and what noises not to let distract us. By freeing ourselves from the clamor of a thousand voices, we recognize that some deceive our desires, others buy us without nourishing us, and still others speak out of self-interest. In silence, we understand that ideologies pass away, while the truth remains. Here, I also want to emphasize the importance of seeking the truth, because many voices and many things on social media deceive us and tell us lies. Always seek the truth! God is truth! If it leads you away from God, it's not truth! Don't forget that!

Secondly, be certain that God knows your voice well, your voice: He hears you and will answer you. Do not be afraid to express what you feel in your heart. There is a Psalm that says, “He who made the ear, does he not hear?” ( Psalm 94:9). Our inner discourse becomes prayer, praise, and supplication when it is entrusted to the only one who can hear it. Prayer is a free voice precisely because it does not speak to give an account, to demonstrate that we are prepared, or to make ourselves feel important. When we ourselves become prayer, the Lord answers us with his Word, who became man for us, affirming that he loves us with all his being.

Third, to recognize God's voice, it is necessary to listen to the Word. The Word of God is alive because it is Christ, whose voice continues to resonate in the Church, which is his Body. He fulfills all the Scriptures, that old and new testament given to humanity as a promise of salvation. Eucharistic adoration, which we share tonight, is precisely the right place to be silent, to free our hearts, and to be present before the Lord, conversing with him so that his love, made food for all humanity, may become eloquent.

Furthermore, dear young people, to accompany others in discovering the beauty of our faith, remember that none of us was born a teacher and that, before the Lord, we are all disciples. Share, then, your spiritual journey, bearing witness to it with consistency of life: the will to follow Jesus will constantly renew you, especially in times of weariness. In this, it is important to see that no one is alone in believing in Jesus. Look how many of you are here! And so too, in community, in youth groups, in the family, we can all learn the beauty of our faith. For by sharing your spiritual journey, the will to follow Jesus will constantly renew you. He walks alongside us and illuminates our path. Following the example of the Master: this is how I invite you to act, as pastors, educators, as friends. If you pray with love, young people will appreciate the importance of prayer. If you burn with faith, you will transmit its living fire. Seek this fire of God's love in your hearts! Therein lies the presence of Jesus, and His close presence is felt even in our moments of striving, because Jesus does not abandon us. He is also present when we offer a helping hand, a fraternal embrace, when we seek opportunities to serve others, and when we try to touch the lives of others through their wounds, their sadness, their difficulties. There, faith in Jesus Christ comes alive, and there, Jesus helps us to support one another on our journey.

(5) How can we, as young Christians committed to this society, live?

(6) What is the specific mission that you ask of us, the young people of the Church?

Well, congratulations on your marriage, Fernando! I've also seen other couples getting married here: Congratulations and blessings! Because, if I said before, "Don't be afraid to think about a vocation," marriage is also a vocation! Don't be afraid of marriage and starting a family!

Throughout the centuries of Church history, we Christians have lived in all kinds of societies, experiencing the changes in the cultures we have shared and helped to shape. There is an ancient text, the Letter to Diognetus , that offers us a beautiful insight in this regard: “Christians are to the world what the soul is to the body” (VI). This is our way of life: the disciples of Jesus are always contemporary, but never prisoners of passing time. We are free in Christ! And Christ has set us free with his love. Thanks to this love, we are always free from all coercion and deception. We are free from fleeting trends because we are disciples of the truth; we are open to the future because we know that death does not await us. On the contrary, the meaning of history culminates in the eternal communion of life that God prepares for all. From this perspective, you young people, in particular, are called to give a new direction to society, becoming agents of change through your daily relationships—those experiences you have in your families, at university, and at work. Seeing you, dear young people, filled with this enthusiasm motivated by faith, fills me with hope for your capacity to bear witness to Christ in the world, including the digital realm, and to communicate the values ​​and beauty of the Gospel (cf. Christus vivit , 105; Greeting on the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries, July 29, 2025 ).

I therefore invite you all to be together the salt of the earth and the light of the world (cf. Mt 5:13). To live in this way, it is necessary first and foremost to interpret present-day society, living with wisdom, so that we can then transform it as witnesses of the Gospel. The young Christian, in fact, becomes radiant in both joy and trial, giving flavor to reality because he inhabits it as someone who enjoys life from within, without expecting that flavor to come from wealth, pleasure, or power. This is our freedom, which has its source in faith, which is capable of giving light and flavor to every society, to every human experience. On the other hand, when life tastes of nothing, it is as if it were being taken from us: we no longer feel it is ours. Faced with the emptiness of indifference and conformity, faced with the violence of war and lies, be yourselves a spark of a new humanity.

And so, I want to entrust all of you with a mission: to be human. Yes, be human! Men and women of flesh and blood. Not mere appearances, but trustworthy faces. People who seek justice because they hunger for it, as they hunger for daily bread. People who desire an honest and upright life because they gladly do for others what they would want others to do for them. Be human as Christ is, the perfect man, the Risen One who shares history with us in every age. Cultivating this commitment, look to the Apostles, the first Christians, inhabitants of a pagan world. Following their example, be missionaries of the Gospel in the face of the material and spiritual poverty of our time, knowing well that our faith is a way of life fulfilled in charity (cf. Gal 5:6). This, dear young people, is the virtue that changes history more than any other. You can change history! Do it with love! Thank you very much.

Source: Vatican Media News Bulletin - Vatican Media Image with Text Added