On the Solemnity of the Transfiguration of the Lord, as part of the Pontiff’s pastoral visit on the occasion of the 800th anniversary On the anniversary of St. Francis’s death, Pope Leo XIV invited more than two thousand young people to Assisi to commit themselves to “the civilization of love,” and encouraged them, saying, “Dear young people, today Europe and the entire world are looking to you for new saints.”.
“Have the courage to believe in the word of the Gospel, be truly human through the freedom of Jesus Christ, and embrace our sister, poverty!”, has stated the Holy Father to the young people in Piazza Santa Maria degli Angeli (Assisi).
The title of their gathering—“Go!”—is a mission, a sending forth along paths for which we have no maps, because they open up as we listen to our hearts, obey the Spirit, and follow the Risen One wherever He has chosen to go before us, the Pope added.
“Go! Go ahead! Better yet: let’s go! Let’s go! To the marginalized places, where the injustice and arrogance of a few deny the dignity and dreams of many—of far too many of God’s sons and daughters.”.
“Take a chance, dear young people,” he later encouraged them, “on the civilization of love, the first signs of which you have encountered in so many examples of selfless giving, and which—in the image of Christ—transforms countless peacemakers who, even today, are committed to serving life in the most tragic settings of death.”.
Replies to Karolina from Zagreb or Giovanni from Bologna
For example, when Karolina from Zagreb asked how to remain faithful to the Gospel without losing the joy and simplicity of the Franciscan charism, the Pope reminded her of the Franciscan presence in the Balkans. He told her that this presence had for centuries fostered dialogue among Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Muslims, even in a region recently marked by war and divisions. In that context, he invited young people to become true builders of reconciliation. “Christians will be called upon more and more to become peacemakers.”.
What has sustained the Pope: he has never walked alone
Giovanni, from Bologna, expressed the fear that many young people feel about lifelong commitments and asked the Pope what had sustained him on his vocational journey.
León XIV pointed out that the current cultural context fuels uncertainty and the illusion that it is always possible to postpone important decisions. However, precisely for this reason, making a definitive commitment is today “the most revolutionary act.”.
“Making a decision for life does not lock us in a cage, but rather opens us up to greater dynamism,» said the Pontiff, because true love is always a journey of stepping outside of oneself, traveled alongside God.
León XIV recalled that he has never walked alone. “The Lord has never abandoned me: He has always been with me,” he revealed, reflecting on his vocation: priest, Augustinian religious, missionary, and Successor of Peter.
Homily at Mass: The Transfiguration of So Many…
At 10:30 a.m., at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels at the Porziuncola, the Holy Father presided over Holy Mass with the participants in the ‘GO! Franciscan Youth Meeting 2026.’.
"The Feast of the Transfiguration, which we are celebrating, is a mystery of light that helps us deepen our encounter—one that is so joyful, yet also fraught with questions about the present and the future," the Holy Father began by saying in the homily.
Today we contemplate Jesus being transfigured precisely as he converses with the Father, with those who came before him—Moses and Elijah—and with his contemporaries, the disciples. (…) “The Church exists to draw us into this dynamic of listening and decision-making, in which we come to understand for whom to live and how to live,” he added.
“We are in Assisi, a city that has drawn many pilgrims for centuries—and today, we are among them—because here, everything whispers to us that our lives can take on a new form, radiate light, and heal the world.”.
”It was here that the transformation of Francis, Clare, and thousands of other young people began: they embraced the Gospel without reservation—as we would say, without compromise—and the life of Jesus has been reborn in them.”.
“We see its dawn in the canonized saints, such as St. Francis and St. Clare”
Easter morning, the Pope said, “is the light of a new day, toward which we are drawn, even as darkness still surrounds us—and sometimes dwells within us.”.
”We see this dawn in the canonized saints, such as St. Francis and St. Clare, and in a myriad of brothers and sisters who respond to evil with good. We are not alone!” emphasized the Successor of Peter.
They've experienced it these past few days: they've come together and listened to one another, moving beyond the clamor of conflicting voices to master the art of conversation.
Temptations, Misunderstandings: Trusting in God
Pope Francis, drawing inspiration from the Poverello of Assisi, has warned us against the “temptation to be Christians while maintaining a prudent distance from the Lord’s wounds.” But Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others (Evangelii gaudium, 270), as Leo XIV reminded us.
We may not even be understood by those in our own homes, as happened to St. Francis. (,,,) “Trusting in God means rediscovering, like Francis and Clare, a world of brothers and sisters to love and serve—not to exploit and dominate. Not a world to defend, but one to embrace.”.
Assisi, a magnet for pilgrims
Upon his arrival in Assisi, the Pope was greeted with a welcome address delivered by Fr. Marco Vianelli, Provincial Minister of the Friars Minor of Umbria and Sardinia, who recalled that “here, at the Porziuncola, St. Francis came to understand his vocation; here he welcomed the first brothers; here, St. Clare consecrated her life to the Lord; here, the Indulgence of the Pardon of Assisi flourished, a sign of God’s boundless mercy. Today, this same grace continues to attract pilgrims from all over the world.”.
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