By Archdiocese of Miami -

VATICAN CITY | “When I go to the church in my neighborhood, I see only old people. Is the Church only for old people?”

This is the question directed to Pope Francis that opens this Pope Video which coincides with World Youth Day. His response is direct: “If it becomes something for old people, it will die.... The Church needs young people so it doesn’t grow old.”

The video with the Holy Father’s new prayer intention, which he entrusts to the entire Catholic Church through the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, and was created in collaboration with the Lisbon 2023 WYD Foundation and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, is about young people and World Youth Day. Pope Francis’ message emphasizes his invitation that young people quickly take the path of bearing joyful witness to the Gospel.

There is a special feature in this month’s video. Pope Francis responds to several young people from different continents who pose questions in various languages. Youth from the Philippines, Brazil and the Ivory Coast (members of the Eucharistic Youth Movement, the youth branch of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, with 1,700,000 members in 60 countries) ask Pope Francis unfiltered questions: whether the Church is just for “old people”; why he chose Mary as the theme for World Youth Day; what is the pope’s own hope for this international meeting of young people in Portugal.

Replying at a distance, Pope Francis’ responses are quite powerful. He explains that Mary’s attitude is a lesson for all her peers, for “as soon as Mary knew she was going to be the mother of God, she didn’t stay there taking a selfie or showing off.” Rather, “The first thing she did was to set out on a journey, in haste, to serve, to help.” Later, he confides his dream “to see a seed for the world’s future,” a world in which love (at a time when “we are at war”) and joy (“because if we Christians have no joy, we are not credible, no one will believe us”) are at the center.

According to Bishop Américo Aguiar, President of the Lisbon 2023 WYD Foundation, “the meeting is essentially a meeting of young people with the pope, an encounter of young people with young people, and an encounter of each young person with the person of the living Christ. On this journey, I expect everything and expect nothing. Expecting everything, I hope that all of the young people will be touched by the pope’s words and that each young person has an encounter with the Lord of Life. To expect nothing is to trust totally, to give all that I have and am, expecting nothing in return. I will strive each day, but most especially in the last days, for the complete detachment of one who knows it is not possible to carry out this immense task without the efficacious presence of the Risen Jesus.”