ROME: Pope Leo XIV was met with rock star adoration as he arrived by helicopter to a roaring crowd of hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims at an open-air vigil in Rome on Saturday.
Cheers and tears erupted as the white military helicopter descended over the sprawling Tor Vergata site, where over 800,000 faithful—possibly a million—had gathered for the Jubilee of Youth, part of the Catholic Church’s holy year.
Smiling from the popemobile, the 69-year-old pope—the first American to lead the Church—waved at the sea of screaming youths, many of whom had spent hours in the sun listening to music, praying, and bonding with fellow Catholics.
“The pope is here!” boomed a voice over loudspeakers, as chants and applause swept across the 500,000-square-metre field, roughly the size of 70 football pitches.
But the tone shifted when Leo stepped on stage carrying a large wooden cross. “Dear young people… we now gather together in the light of the advancing evening to keep vigil together,” he said solemnly.
Many in the crowd, some too far back to see the massive golden stage, planned to camp overnight ahead of Sunday’s Mass—expected to mark the peak of the week-long youth pilgrimage.
“I’m so happy to be here, even if I’m far from the pope. The main thing is we’re all together,” said British student Andy Hewellyn, while nearby pilgrims strummed guitars or napped on blankets.
Dubbed a “Catholic Woodstock” by Italian media, the day featured music and dance acts, with attendees sprawled across the field under umbrellas and flags. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hailed the event as “an extraordinary party.”
The Jubilee comes just three months into Leo’s papacy and 25 years after Pope John Paul II last hosted a youth gathering of this scale in Rome.
Pilgrims trekked from across the globe—some from conflict zones like Ukraine and Syria. “I hope Pope Leo will speak up for third world countries,” said Samarei Semos, 29, who travelled three days from Belize.
French pilgrim Quentin Remaury, 26, recalled Pope Francis’s 2016 rallying cry to youth: “Get off your couches.” “That really gave me a boost,” he said.
The week’s events included mass confessions at Circus Maximus, where 1,000 priests manned 200 white gazebos. Tragedy struck on Friday when an 18-year-old Egyptian pilgrim died of a heart attack while returning to her lodging. The pope met and prayed with her group before the vigil.
Over 4,300 volunteers and 1,000 police were deployed for the vigil, organisers said. – AFP
