Pope Responds to Young People: Favorite Saints, How Can They Discern What Helps a Young Person Discover God’s Voice

(ZENIT News / Madrid, June 6, 2026). – On the evening of Saturday, June 6, half a million people, mostly young people, gathered in Plaza de Lima, near the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, to accompany Pope Leo XIV in a Prayer Vigil. Six young people asked the Holy Father some questions. The questions were:

(1) We know that Saint Augustine is very important to you, but what other Saints and 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?

(3) What do you think would help us recognize the voice of God? God among many other voices?

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

(5) How can we, as young people committed to this society, live out our lives?

(6) What specific mission do you ask of the young people of the Church?

Below is a transcript of the Holy Father’s answers. At the end, the Pope himself gave the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament.

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Pope’s Response to Questions 1 and 2:

Well, first of all, greetings to all of you! 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 important figures 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 have also thought of one of the Fathers of the Eastern Church named Saint John Chrysostom, whose name means «golden-mouthed,» a title that this Father of the Church deserved because he had a very beautiful eloquence. Before his Baptism, which took place in 68 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 dedicated himself to the service of the Church as a priest and later 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 had great courage. He was not afraid to speak before the Emperor, to say things that were in favor of justice and not just to please others. He was a man of his word.

Another Saint I’ve thought of is Saint Thomas of Villanova, an Augustinian, 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.» This charity has sustained me in times of trial and in times of service.

Another companion on this journey 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 intense prayer with a commitment to justice, especially in the face of the abuses and corruption of his time. For this reason, he is a model of dedication to the people, especially the poorest, in the name of Christ.

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

As for the years I spent in Peru, first as a missionary and then as a Bishop, I remember above all the witness of faith of the people, marked by many difficulties, yet full of hope. It was precisely the encounter with the wounds and also with the joys of the people that made me grow on the path of following Jesus. While proclaiming 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.

Pope’s Response to Questions 3 and 4:

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

To recognize the voice of God, silence can help us above all. I believe it is very important that each of us seek to develop the capacity to be silent.

Many times we go around with headphones, with music, with distraction, and we don’t know how to be silent. I believe that many times it is precisely in this experience of silence that God can speak to us or where we can discern the voice of God. 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, others speak out of self-interest. In silence, we understand that ideologies pass away, while the truth remains. Here I would also like to emphasize the importance of seeking the truth, because often, 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 is not truth! Don’t forget it!

Secondly, be assured 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, will he not hear?» (Psalm 94:9). Our inner speech 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.

Thirdly, to recognize the voice of God, it is necessary to listen to the Word. The Word of God is alive because it is Christ, whose voice continues to resound in the Church, which is His Body. He fulfills all the Scriptures, that Old and New Testament given to humankind as a promise of salvation. Eucharistic Adoration, which we share tonight, is also the right place to be silent, to free our hearts and to «be» ourselves before the Lord, dialoguing with Him, so that He may become eloquent in His love, made food for all humanity.

Furthermore, dear young people, to accompany others in discovering the beauty of our faith, remember that none of us were born teachers 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 and the will to follow Jesus, you will be constantly renewed. He walks alongside us and illuminates our path. Following the example of the Master: this is how I invite you to act, as pastors, as 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 in your hearts this fire of God’s love! For there is 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 with 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.

Pope’s Answers to Questions 5 and 6:

Well, congratulations on your marriage, Fernando! I’ve also seen other couples here who are getting married: Congratulations and blessings! Because, as I said before, «Don’t be afraid to think about a vocation,» marriage is also a vocation. Don’t be afraid of marriage and of starting a family!

Throughout the centuries of Church history, we Christians have lived in all kinds of societies, experiencing the changes of the cultures we have shared and helped to shape. There is an ancient text, called the Epistle 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 living: 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 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 everyone. From this perspective, above all, you young people are called to give a new direction to society, becoming protagonists 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, I am excited to think about the capacity you have to bear witness to Christ in the world, including the digital reality, to communicate the values ​​and beauty of the Gospel (cf. Christus Vivit, 105; Greeting on the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries, July 29, 2025).

I invite you all, therefore, to be together salt of the earth and light of the world (cf. Matthew 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 luminous both in joy and in trial, giving flavor to reality because he inhabits it as a person who enjoys life from within, without expecting that flavor to come from wealth, or pleasure or power. This is our freedom, which has its source in faith, which is capable of giving light and good flavor to all of society, to all 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 appearances, but trustworthy faces. People who seek justice because they hunger for it, as 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. Cultivate 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 that is fulfilled in charity (cf. Galatians 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.