In a message to thousands attending the 50th anniversary of the Steubenville Youth Conferences, Pope Leo XIV urged young Catholics to find “true peace” and “perfect joy” through a deeper relationship with God, inspired by St. Francis of Assisi. The conferences, organized by Franciscan University of Steubenville, are major Catholic youth evangelization events for North American high school students. Since 1976 they have brought hundreds of thousands of young people together for worship, Eucharistic adoration, confession, catechesis, and fellowship. This year more than 43,000 teens are expected at Steubenville and regional venues across North America. No papal message to the conferences had been recorded before this.
The Pope focused on two themes that defined St. Francis: authentic peace and perfect joy. Using Francis’s greeting “Peace and all good,” he stressed that true peace is a gift from God that comes from a relationship with Christ. He encouraged participants to seek silence and prayer during the conferences to discover the peace Christ promised and to become instruments of that peace in their families, communities, and society. He then reflected on “perfect joy,” drawing on St. Francis’s teaching that lasting happiness isn’t found in material success, popularity, entertainment, or social media. True joy comes from knowing God’s love and staying faithful even through suffering, rejection, and hardship. The Pope recalled the story of St. Francis and Brother Leo walking to Assisi on a cold winter night.
Francis listed many “good” things that don’t bring perfect joy until Leo asked him to explain it. Francis then described a situation of cold, hunger, and rejection, saying that if such difficulties are accepted with patience, without complaint, and with love for God, “this is perfect joy.” “Is it really possible to have joy in such difficult circumstances, we might ask ourselves? It is only possible if our life is founded on our relationship with God as a loving Father,” the Pope wrote.
He reminded youth that they are precious and unconditionally loved by God, and urged them to deepen that relationship through prayer, the sacraments, and trust in His providence. “Only God’s love can give us true and perfect joy,” he said.The message ended with an invitation to discern God’s call. Whether to marriage, priesthood, religious life, or missionary service, Pope Leo encouraged young people not to fear responding generously if they feel the Lord calling them to a particular vocation.