Leo XIV to young people in Buenos Aires: “Do not kneel before what cannot give you life”

Yesterday evening, 10 November, Leo XIV led the prayer vigil with young people at the Monumento de los Españoles, in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires — the last great appointment of his time in Argentina before departing for Peru. According to Bulletin B0898 of the Holy See Press Office, “an estimated one million people took part.”

The Pope left the Apostolic Nunciature at 19:45 local time (23:45 in Rome) for the vigil scheduled at 20:15. On arrival he toured among the faithful in an open car; he was then welcomed by the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Msgr. Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva, and together they made their way to the stage, accompanied by a musical performance. Vatican News reports a slight delay on the programme and describes the Pope in a red mozzetta on the popemobile, while along Avenida del Libertador the crowd filled the streets already cordoned off the day before, for Mass in the same place.

“A welcome that perhaps only Argentina can give.” After the archbishop’s greeting and the testimonies, the Pope spoke in reply to a first question. He turned first to everyone: “What a wonderful welcome! A welcome that perhaps only Argentina can give. Thank you!” (from the original Spanish text published on the Holy See website, our translation; official Italian and English versions do not yet appear to be online on vatican.va).

The evening, as reconstructed by the Bulletin, brought together prayer, testimonies and celebration. A young man in recovery from addiction and a young woman in vocational discernment told their stories; the choir sang more than once; there was an artistic interlude, folk dances and a tango performance. According to Vatican News it was “the first public tango at a papal event in Argentina”: Leo XIV “smiles, amused,” follows the steps and claps. Among the songs already heard while the crowd was waiting were Jesus Christ, you are my life and the chant “Esta es la juventud del Papa.”

Cristian, Guadalupe, Agustina and Franco. Vatican News identifies the four young people at the centre of that first part of the vigil. Cristian, 25, who is in recovery, said he had “got back on his feet” thanks to the Famiglia Grande of the Hogar de Cristo, which welcomed him “without asking who I was”; today he helps “so many young people destroyed by drugs.” Guadalupe, 31, a postulant of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Granada, said a priest’s question had changed her life: “Who told you it was already too late?” In his address the Pope took up that question.

Then the questions. Agustina Flores, a teacher engaged in serving people in difficulty, asked how to face “frustration and our limits when we go out to meet the most excluded and cannot accompany them as we would wish.” Leo XIV answered: “Do all you can, put your whole heart into it and join your efforts to those of others. And when you reach the limit of your strength, remember that God’s never runs out.” Recalling the parable of the sower, he added: “We will not always see the fruits of what we sow, but we can trust that God continues to care for them” (our translation from the official text).

After listening to Guadalupe, the Pope turned to those who feel the desire to give their lives to Christ, “in consecrated life, in the priesthood and also in family life”: “Christ continues to call! Do not be afraid to answer!” To Franco Pugliese, who asked how to integrate the love lived in the parish and at home with work and the other demands of daily life, he recalled the years Jesus spent in Nazareth and said: “That is why we do not have to live two lives, one for God and another for our occupations.” “When you work, study or spend time with your friends, do it with love and offer it to the Lord. In that way your work too becomes prayer and a path of holiness” (our translation).

The candles and the address. There followed the introduction to prayer, the invocation of the Holy Spirit, a time of reflection and the symbolic gesture of light, with the lighting of candles. “The Pope first,” Vatican News writes. Then, “at the end,” Leo XIV delivered his address.

He spoke of the joy of returning to that place, “this time to meet you,” and recalled the sculptures on the monument that represent four great regions of Argentina — the Andes, the Chaco, the Pampa and the Río de la Plata —: “How beautiful that today those lands are represented by so many young people!” From the fire of the candles he turned to another fire, that of the furnace in Babylon and of the three young men Ananias, Azariah and Mishael, told in the Book of the Prophet Daniel: they remained standing while the crowd bowed down before the golden statue.

“Today as well, idols arise that demand our worship: success at any cost, money, the obsession with appearance, popularity or the unbridled pursuit of pleasure.” People can come “to lie, to betray or to humiliate someone on social media” in order to win the approval of others; selfishness can lead us “to treat people as objects.” And “there are also those who do business by offering pleasures that end up enslaving us, such as pornography and various substances.” Then came the central passage, which the Pope also linked to St Augustine’s words, “Today I am standing”:

“You too are called to stand firm before the idols of our time. Do not kneel before what cannot give you life! And if you have ever fallen, get back up! Do not allow anything or anyone to take from you the freedom God has given you” (our translation from the official text).

“There is a place for you in the Church.” Drawing on the “Todos, todos, todos” — “Everyone, everyone, everyone” — spoken by Pope Francis at World Youth Day in Lisbon on 3 August 2023, Leo XIV proposed three movements: “all toward Christ, all with Christ, all like Christ.” To those who have grown up close to Jesus and those now beginning to seek him, to those who have long ceased to pray, those who have drifted away and those who “have been wounded by people who should have accompanied them,” he said:

“To each of you I would like to say: there is a place for you in the Church! With your questions, your wounds and your story. This is your home, too. You do not have to pretend that everything is fine, or wait until you have your life in order before drawing near. And to you, who think it is already too late to begin again, I would like to say: welcome! No matter who you are or what you have done, Jesus Christ knows you, Jesus Christ loves you and wants you close to him” (our translation).

He repeated the question once put to Guadalupe — “Who told you it was already too late?” — and added: “No one has fallen so low that Christ cannot raise them up.” He asked communities to keep their doors open, to receive those who arrive with questions, to help those who suffer and to accompany with patience those who are seeking God. Then the appeal: “Let yourselves be transformed by Christ! Do not be afraid to approach the sacrament of Reconciliation.” And again: “Pray, read the Gospel, draw near to the Eucharist. There the One who gave his life for us is waiting for us.”

From the song of the three young men in the furnace he imagined a praise that might reach the present: “Art and culture, bless the Lord. Games and sport, bless the Lord. Science and technology, bless the Lord. Networks and screens, bless the Lord. Music and football, bless the Lord.” And the invitation of the evening: “This evening I would like to invite you: to be saints!” “May your lives be like pages of the Gospel, written with the ink of mercy.”

He had opened with “Welcome, everyone!” As Successor of Peter he then entrusted the second part of the motto: “Go and announce! Go to your cities and towns, to every corner and periphery. May those who feel far from God discover, through you, that Christ is searching for them.” He blessed the cross that will travel through the communities and invoked Our Lady of Luján: “all toward Christ, all with Christ, all like Christ.”

Our Father, blessing and fireworks. The celebration, the Bulletin says, concluded with the Our Father, the blessing and a final song. Vatican News and Vatican Media images also record fireworks above the stage. At around 22:10 local time (2:10 a.m. in Rome) the Holy Father got into the car and returned to the Nunciature. Vatican News reports that on arrival he stepped out of the car, greeted the people waiting for him and blessed several children before going inside.

Follow the journey live blog: [Pope Leo XIV’s Latin America journey](/articolo/pope-leo-xiv-s-latin-america-journey-live-updates-c2a5?lang=en).

What we do not know. At the time of publication, the Holy See website has the original Spanish text of the address and the replies, but not yet official Italian or English translations.

Sources: Holy See Press Office, B0898; address and replies, original Spanish text on vatican.va; Vatican News, account of the vigil; Vatican News, address; Vatican News, testimonies; Vatican Media video.

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