Draw closer to Christ and pray about your vocation, Pope tells Portuguese youth
July 28, 2026
Pope Leo XIV encouraged Portuguese Catholic youth to draw nearer to Christ and pray about their vocation.
“One of the characteristics of young people is that they are restless,” Pope Leo said in a video message to participants in the Portuguese bishops’ National Youth Day. which took place from July 24 to July 26 in Lamego. “Do not be afraid of the restlessness within you! Make the most of its drive to draw even closer to Christ and to bear witness to the values of the Gospel.”
“Firmly rooted in the Word of Jesus, reading the Gospel every day, never cease to dream of a land where there is peace and fraternity, nor to look upon the world with wonder, nor to face the future in the light of hope,” the Pope continued. “Dear young people, do not let anything or anyone rob you of your hope!”
Pope Leo added:
I also encourage you to harness your restlessness so that, in moments of prayer and silence, in dialogue with God, you may ask him: “Lord, what do you want me to do in the Church and in the world? What is my vocation? Are you calling me to start a family through marriage? Or are you calling me instead to the priestly life? Or to the religious life?
These are important questions to ask, without forgetting a certainty that gives unity to our inner life: God always calls us to be saintly, and saints are profoundly human. Be, then, human as Christ is, and you will certainly change this world for the better. May Our Lady of Fátima, the Mother of Good Counsel, help you!
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