In Assisi, Pope encourages young people to ‘touch the suffering flesh of others'

Pope Leo celebrated Mass on Thursday for the thousands of young people from across Europe gathered in Assisi for Go!,the 2026 Franciscan Youth Meeting.

At Mass in the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, the Pope encouraged his young listeners to go “to the margins” of society, “where the injustice and arrogance of a few deny the dignity and dreams of many”.

“We are called to read the Scriptures with the Master,” Pope Leo said, “to interpret our times, and to make decisions as we walk in His footsteps. We are here to overcome resignation and fear, to untangle the doubts that hold us back just as they held back the apostles. Jesus calls us into a dialogue with His story so that we may write new pages of history.”

Assisi is a place where “everything whispers that our lives can be transformed, unleash light, and repair the world,” the Pope said, reminding his listeners that it was here in Assisi that “the transfiguration of Francis, of Clare, and then of thousands of other young people” first began.

Pope Leo began his homily by considering the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, which the Church marks today. 

Jesus, the Pope said, was “transfigured precisely in conversation with the Father, with those who preceded him — Moses and Elijah — and with his contemporaries, the disciples.”

The Church exists, Pope Leo said, “to draw us into this dynamic of listening and deciding, helping us understand for whom to live and how to live.”

The Church is “the community where we learn to distinguish the voice of God”, the Pope stressed, “and to dare that obedience to the Holy Spirit that made bold and creative all those who agreed to follow Jesus.”