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Pope Francis Address to Young People
“Sir John Guise” Stadium (Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea) – Monday, 9 September 2024
“Face the future with smiles of hope!”
Dear young people,
I can tell you one thing: I am happy to have spend these days in your country, where the sea, the mountains and the tropical forests coexist; but above all it is a young country populated by so many young people!
And we have all been able to see the young face of the country, also through the beautiful representation we saw here.
Thank you very much! Thank you for your joy, for sharing the beauty of Papua “where the ocean meets the sky, where dreams are born and challenges are met”;
And above all, thank you for giving everyone an important wish to everyone: “Face the future with smiles of hope!”. With a smile of joy.
Dear young people, I did not want to leave here without meeting you, because you are the hope for the future.
And how will the future be built?
What meaning do we want to give to our lives?
I would like to be challenged by these questions, starting with a story from the beginning of the Bible: the story of the Tower of Babel.
There we see the clash of two models , two opposite ways of living and building society: one leads to confusion and dispersion, the other leads to the harmony of the encounter with God and with one’s brothers and sisters.
Confusion on the one hand and harmony on the other. This is important.
And I ask you, now, what will you choose?
The dispersion model or the harmony model?
What will you choose? [answer: Harmony!] You are good!
There is a story that the Bible tells: after the flood, Noah’s descendants were scattered on different islands, each “according to his own language and according to their families” (Gen 10:5).
Without wiping out their differences, God gave them a way to communicate and unite, so that, “the whole earth had one language” (Gen 11:1).
This means that the Lord created us to have a good relationship with others.
Be careful: He didn’t create us to be confused, but to have a good relationship.
And this is very important.
And in the face of these differences language that divide, we need a single language that helps us to be united.
But I ask you: what is the language that promotes friendship, that breaks down the walls of division and that opens the way for us all to enter into a fraternal embrace?
What is this language? I would like to hear from some of you who are brave…
Who can tell what this language is?
Whoever is the bravest, raise your hand and come forward. [a young mwn replies: love].
Are you convinced of this? [The young people answer: yes!] Think about it.
And what is there against love? Hatred.
But there is also something perhaps uglier than hatred: indifference towards others.
Have you understood what hatred is and what indifference is?
Do you understand? The young people answer: yes!]
You know that indifference is a very bad thing, because you leave others in the street,
you are not interested in helping others.
Indifference is rooted in selfishness.
Feel, in life, you who are young, you must have the restlessness of heart to take care of others.
You must have the restlessness to make friends with others.
And you have to care about something that I am going to tell you now, which perhaps seems a little strange.
One thing that I will say now and that perhaps seems a bit strange.
There is a very important relationship in a young person’s life – a closeness to his grandparents.
Do you agree? [The young people answer: Yes!]
Now, all together we say: “Long live the grandparents!” [The young people answer: Long live the grandparents!] Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.
Let us return to the biblical account of Noah’s descendants.
Everyone spoke a different language, even many dialects.
I ask you: how many dialects are there here? One? Two? Three?
But do you have a common language? Think carefully: do you have a common language?
[The young people answer: Yes!].
The language of the heart! The language of love! The language of closeness!
And also, the language of service.
I thank you for your presence here.
And I hope that all of you speak the deepest language: that all of you are “wantok” of love!
Dear young people, I am happy with your enthusiasm and I am happy with everything you do, what you think.
But I wonder – be careful with the question! – Can a young person make mistakes?
[The young people answer: Yes!].
And can an adult person make mistakes? [The young people answer: Yes!].
And can an old man like me make a mistake? [The answer: Yes!].
We can all make mistakes. Everybody.
But the important thing is to recognize the mistake. That is important.
We are not superpeople. We can make mistakes.
And that also gives us a certainty: that we always have to correct ourselves.
In life we can all fall, all of us. But there is a very beautiful song, I want you to learn it, it is a song that young people sing when they are climbing the Alps, the mountains.
The song goes like this: “In the art of climbing, the important thing is not to fall, but not to stay fallen.”.
Do you understand this? [The young people answer: Yes!]
In life we can all fall, all of us! Is it important not to fall? Is it important not to fall? I ask you.
[The young people answer: no!] Yes, but what is more important?
[The young people answer: Getting up again!]. Don’t get knocked down
And if you see a friend, a friend, a companion of your own age who has fallen, what should you do? Laugh at that? [The young people answer: no!] You have to look and help him or her to get up.
Remember that there is only one situation in life in which we can look down on another person: to help him or her to get up.
To help him get up. Do you agree or disagree? [The young people answer: Yes!]
If one of you has fallen, is a little down in the moral life, if he has fallen, do you have to give him a blow like this? [The young people answer: no!] Well done, well done.
Now let’s repeat together, to finish.
In life, the important thing is not to fall.
Dear young people, I thank you for your joy, your presence, your illusions.
I pray for you. I pray for you. And don’t forget to pray for me, because the work is not easy.
Thank you very much for your presence.
Thank you very much for your hope.
And now, all together, pray. Pray for all of us. [Our Father…)]
Thank you very much.
But, I forgot: if one falls, must one remain fallen? [The young people answer: no!] Good.
And if we see a friend, a comrade, a comrade, who falls, should we leave him or her there or give him a blow? [The young people answer: no!]
What should we do? [The young people answer: Get back up!]
Thank you very much. God bless you. Pray for me, don’t forget.
* * *
Words from the heart after the blessing:
Before the last song, I forgot something. I would like to ask you, I don’t remember:
when you find someone who has fallen on the road, fallen for so many problems, what should you do, give him a punch? [The young people answer: no!]
What is the gesture you have to make in front of someone who has fallen?
[Young people answer: Get back up!] Let’s do it together!
Thank you very much.
Words off the cuff after the final song: I would like to thank all those who prepared this beautiful meeting.
This was pointed out to me by this Salesian Bishop who came to you dressed like a true worker!
