Pope Leo’s message for 41st World Youth Days
[22 November 2026 – 3–8 August 2027]
“Take courage! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Pope Leo’s message
Dear young people,
I wish to reach out to each of you with this message and, above all, to give thanks to God for the gift that you are to the Church and to society.
God knows you, loves you and accompanies you on your journey through life.
His Spirit inspires in all of you — different as you are and spread throughout the world — the same desire for things that are great and lasting and moves you to seek freedom and truth.
From God comes your desire to love and to be loved, as well as the hope that the Holy Spirit awakens in your hearts — a hope that can also become a light for others.
For all of this, I give thanks to the Lord.
We are preparing to celebrate the 41st World Youth Day in our local Churches on 22 November, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, even as we look forward to our international gathering in Seoul in August 2027.
In preparation for these events, I wish to entrust to you the words of Jesus: “Take courage! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
These words will serve as our theme in the coming months, and I invite you now to begin reflecting on them with me.
Where does courage come from?
Christ’s words begin with an invitation to take courage.
I know that at times, uncertainty and fear can prevail in us, just as they did in the first disciples.
Many of you have questions and concerns weighing heavily on your hearts.
Maybe you are anxious about the future, feel pressured to succeed and be perfect, or feel stressed from constantly comparing yourselves to others or unattainable ideals.
Under the influence of carefully curated social media images, you may have difficulty recognizing and accepting who you truly are.
You long for genuine affection because technology cannot replace authentic human closeness, only imitate empathy.
Some of you know what it means to experience loneliness, disappointment, or the fear of not being good enough.
Perhaps you have also felt like Jesus’ disciples crossing the lake at night in a small boat.
The wind grows stronger, the waves rise, and the shore disappears into the darkness.
It is in circumstances like these that we hear the gospel’s invitation to take courage.
Jesus approaches his disciples and says: “It is I; do not be afraid” (Jn 6:20).
I wish to instill this assurance in your hearts: even before you seek Christ, he is seeking you, walking across the troubled waters of life.
Christian courage does not primarily arise from our own strength; it comes from his presence.
Christ himself did not live a life free from storms, nor did he promise us one.
Yet, his love is stronger than any darkness or suffering.
He will never abandon you.
He invites you to be his friend and asks you to entrust your journey and that of your communities to him.
Allow yourself to be encountered by Jesus Christ, who is seeking you.
Entrust the path you walk, both individually and together, to him.
In this way, you will feel new, lasting courage growing in your hearts.
The victory over the world
Jesus, who walked on water and approached his disciples, now says to us: “Take courage! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Receive these words as a personal promise from Him to you and to your brothers and sisters.
These words are more than an exhortation; they are a gift.
Christ does not say, “You will overcome the world.”
He says, “I have overcome the world.”
In this Gospel passage, we know that the “world” does not refer to the universe created and loved by God and destined for salvation.
Rather, it refers to the “world of darkness” – a mysterious reality – present in the human heart that resists and opposes God:
(Ephesians 6:12 – we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.),
Only Jesus has overcome this darkness through his death and resurrection, reopening for humanity the path to God, happiness, justice, and peace.
Thus, we can understand the other dimensions of the courage to which Jesus calls you. This courage does not stem from your own determination or strength of character. Rather, it comes from trusting in the One who goes before you.
It is born of faith in Jesus Christ.
When we reflect on how Christ conquered the world by loving it, we understand that Christian courage is not courage against something or someone, but rather, courage for something: life, truth, freedom, and justice.
With the courage Christ gives us, we can see the world God loves with new eyes (cf. Jn 3:16).
We, too, have a role in helping transform a “world of darkness” into a “world redeemed.” Christ does not call you to flee from this world but to see it through his eyes and touch it with his healing love.
Allow yourselves to be moved and touched by the reality around you! Jesus did not love the world from a distance.
He fully embraced our human condition, humbling himself to the point of dying on a cross (Phil 2:7-8).
He experienced joy and friendship, as well as hardship, rejection, loneliness, and suffering, yet he never closed his heart.
You, too, live in a world created good, yet wounded — a world full of possibilities, yet marked by injustice, tensions and fears.
Many long for peace but encounter violence; many yearn for communion but experience loneliness.
Amid these contradictions, Christians are called to follow Christ in his gentle courage/
It is the courage to show love when harshness seems easier and more effective;
It is the courage to seek peace when confrontation appears more advantageous;
and it is the courage to hold fast to hope when cynicism seems more convincing.
The victory of self-giving love
When we hear the word “victory,” we might think it means being stronger than others, asserting ourselves or constantly proving our worth.
But those are the kinds of victories promoted by the prevailing mentality — the victories of a world without God.
When we look to Jesus, we discover a different kind of victory.
Saint Paul tells us that Christ, though he was in the form of God, emptied himself and took the form of a servant
(Philippians 2:6-7 – though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be graspedbut emptied himself, taking the form of a servant] being born in the likeness of men.).
The Son of God humbles himself because his love is freely given: he has nothing to prove and nothing to secure for himself.
By humbling himself, he does not lose his dignity
Rather, he reveals the greatness and depth of his divine heart, which is capable of giving life to the dead.
His victory is the victory of a love that gives itself without counting the cost.
Dear young people,
True victory does not lie in seeking to prevail over others, but in giving yourselves to them.
By following the path opened by Jesus Christ, you too have no need to impose yourselves, to constantly prove your worth, to appear perfect or to conceal your weaknesses, doubts and limitations.
Have the courage to be your true selves before God and others.
Your dignity does not come from the image you manage to create for yourselves.
You are precious because you have been created in the image of God, known by him and loved by him.
We discover who we truly are when we recognize that our hearts were created for God: to love him and, in him, to love our brothers and sisters.
Indeed, deep within us is the desire to give of ourselves, to devote our lives to the happiness and well-being of others.
This is the freedom Christ offers you.
It is the freedom to move beyond an exclusive concern for yourselves and to open your hearts to the generous creativity of love.
The courage of humility
Christ’s self-emptying out of love for us did not end on the cross.
The Father raised the Son from the dead and exalted him above all creation
(Philippians. 2:9-11 – God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.).
The Resurrection is not an act of self-exaltation, but a gift from the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Here, we discover another dimension of courage: the courage to receive.
We might call it the courage of humility.
Being friends with Jesus means growing more and more like him in this respect as well.
Some people believe that they must do everything on their own, constantly working to improve themselves and develop stronger personalities and characters.
However, this mindset can ultimately lead us to believe that we are our own saviors.
The Gospel shows us a different way to grow: not trying to save ourselves, but by allowing Jesus Christ to save us.
This requires the courage to accept help from others, acknowledge our limitations, pause, listen, and entrust our lives to God.
Dear young people,
Opening your hearts to Christ will not cause you to lose yourselves.
On the contrary, you will discover who you truly are in God’s eyes and come to know yourselves as he sees you.
Turn, then, to the depths of your hearts.
You will not lose your way because it is there that God awaits you.
Open yourselves to His saving grace.
Let the Holy Spirit, his love, shape your lives.
Let Jesus dwell within you and guide your decisions.
When this happens, everything is made new, even in the ordinary circumstances of daily life.
It is made new in your faithfulness to your friends, in your respect for those who think differently from you, in your attentiveness to the lonely, in your closeness to the vulnerable, and in the way you conduct yourselves in the digital world.
Love transforms everything.
Many regard love as a sign of weakness, but Christ shows us that love is a source of freedom and strength.
The risen Christ comes to you bearing his peace.
On the evening of the Resurrection, after the light of Easter had already entered the world, the disciples were gathered in the Upper Room behind locked doors, filled with fear.
Faith does not immediately dispel the darkness, but it also does not leave us alone in it.
Jesus, the Victor, did not wait for the disciples to overcome their fear or open the doors. He came into their midst, and his first words were: “Peace be with you” (John 20:19).
They had abandoned him.
One had betrayed him, and another had denied him.
Yet he offers them his peace.
Perhaps there are doors in your hearts and in your communities that remain closed because of disappointments, wounds, resentments, or feelings of guilt.
Christ comes to offer you his peace and reconcile you with one another.
Christian courage stems from the presence of the risen Lord, who forgives us and sends us forth.
His peace fills us with courage that the world cannot give.
With this courage, despite our wounds, fear no longer has the final word.
Open your hearts to Christ
When we gather in Seoul, you will experience the beauty of the universal Church and the generous hospitality of the Korean Church in a special way.
Young people from different nations, languages, and cultures will come together, united in Christ.
Through the Eucharist, the Way of the Cross, catechesis, liturgical celebrations, and the many encounters during those days, you will experience anew how the Gospel transcends every boundary and speaks to all peoples.
Let these days be a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ and an opportunity to entrust your lives to him.
This is why World Youth Day was established.
Our pilgrimage has already begun.
Don’t limit your preparations to the practical arrangements for your journey to Seoul; prepare your hearts!
Bring your questions and wounds to Christ, as well as the wounds that tear your societies apart and set your countries against one another.
Bring this suffering creation to him, along with the cries of the earth and the poor that Pope Francis taught us to hear.
Share your joys and hopes with Jesus.
In this spirit, I echo the words with which Saint John Paul II began his pontificate: “Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors for Christ!”
Don’t wait until you’re perfect to open yourselves to him.
He comes to meet you just as you are.
Open your lives to Christ.
Open your communities to him.
Open the paths that lead to the hearts of the people you will meet.
The risen Lord, who entered through locked doors, continues to come among us today.
Therefore, do not settle for a life that falls short of what Christ calls you to.
Allow yourselves to be united and transformed by his love.
Dear young people, I look forward to meeting you in Seoul.
But remember, the Lord we will encounter there is already coming to meet you.
Welcome his promise: “Take courage! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) and let his promise accompany you throughout your journey.
I entrust each of you to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.
May she teach you to open your hearts to Christ as she did, to trust in his word, and to receive his peace with joy so that you may share it with everyone.