Pope encourages Peruvian young people to be joyful and contagious witnesses to Christ
August 01, 2026
Pope Leo XIV encouraged Peruvian Catholic youth to be “joyful and contagious” witnesses to Christ in a world with “many suffering hearts.”
Referring to the theme of Peruvian bishops’ National Youth Day—“Be courageous, Christ lives”—Pope Leo told participants in a two-minute Spanish-language video message that “it is precisely the certainty of the Lord’s living presence in our midst that is the inner fire that impels us to be courageous and to leave the comfort of individualism, to become part of a community of brothers and sisters in the faith, to forge true bonds of friendship and thus bear witness that it is possible to live united in Christ.”
“Do not keep it only for yourselves what you experience on this day,” the Pope added. “Share it, reflect it with your lives, because many people today need that joyful and contagious witness that a young person in love with Christ can transmit. Do not be afraid to be God’s instruments to rekindle the hope of so many, of so many suffering hearts.”
The youth event, which began July 30 and concludes tomorrow, is taking place in Chulucanas; the Vatican released the video message today.
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