Buenos Aires – “No one has fallen so low that Christ cannot raise them up.” With these simple, direct words, Pope Leo XIV placed the mystery of healing and redemption proclaimed by Jesus at the heart of the prayer vigil with young people, held on November 10, at the Monumento de los Españoles in Buenos Aires.
Before a vast crowd of young men and women who had travelled from different parts of Argentina, the Pope spoke about the mercy of God, who abandons no one and always offers the possibility of beginning again, even after the most painful experiences.
This message took concrete shape in the story of 25-year-old Agustín Cristian Schinca, who managed to overcome addiction and life on the streets thanks to the support of Hogar de Cristo in Moreno Sur.
During his childhood, Agustín experienced bullying and struggled to integrate. At the age of 15, he began using cocaine and, over time, his addiction damaged his family relationships and his daily life. After his grandfather died, he left home and spent several months living on the streets. His arrival at Hogar de Cristo marked the beginning of his recovery. There he found a community that welcomed him, offered him a place to live and stood by him throughout a difficult journey, marked by relapses and new beginnings. Today, still involved with the same community, he accompanies other young people struggling with addiction and marginalization.
“Today I am standing on my feet,” Agustín said. The Pope returned to these words, linking them to the biblical account of the three young men – Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael – who, in Babylon, refused to bow down before King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue, even though they knew they could be thrown into a blazing furnace. Like them, he warned young people against the idols of our time: success at all costs, money, obsession with appearance, popularity or the unrestrained pursuit of pleasure, all of which can ultimately enslave us. “Do not bow down before anything that cannot give you life. And if you have ever fallen, get back up. Do not allow anything or anyone to take away the freedom God has given you,” he urged.
The fire of Christ’s love, evoked by the Pope at the beginning of the vigil with the words of the Gospel – “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” – also illuminated the rest of his address. Taking up Pope Francis’ invitation during World Youth Day in Lisbon – “Everyone, everyone, everyone” – Leo XIV proposed three dimensions of Christian life to the young people: “everyone toward Christ, everyone with Christ, everyone like Christ”.
“First of all, everyone toward Christ,” he explained. There is place in the Church for those who have grown up close to Jesus, but also for those who have only just begun to seek him, have not prayed for a long time, have drifted away from the Church or have been hurt by people who should have accompanied them. “To each of you I would like to say that there is a place for you in the Church, with your questions, your wounds and your story. This is your home too,” he said. There is no need to pretend that everything is fine or wait until you have your life sorted out before drawing near to God.
The Pope also returned to the question that changed Guadalupe’s life. Guadalupe was another young woman who had shared her testimony: “Who told you it was too late?” He wanted to address it once again to all those who think they have strayed too far or have felt that there is no place for them in the Church: “The Lord is seeking you!”
He then recalled Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus, who climbed a tree to see the Master and discovered that Jesus was looking for him too: he called him by name and wanted to stay at his house. That encounter moved Zacchaeus to make amends for the injustices he had committed. “No one has fallen so low that Christ cannot raise them up. May our communities always keep their doors open; may they know how to welcome those who arrive with questions, assist those who suffer and patiently accompany those who are seeking God,” Leo XIV said.
The second part of his proposal was “everyone with Christ”. Through the image of the three young men who, in the furnace, were accompanied by a fourth figure sent by God, the Pope recalled that the Lord does not abandon those who face trials. The biblical account finds its fulfilment in Jesus Christ, who became man, shared in humanity’s sufferings and bore its sins, giving his life on the cross and rising on the third day. “Christ offers you a life that not even death can take away!” he said.
This mercy does not mean remaining prisoners of what hurts us. “Christ loves us as we are, but his love is too great to leave us prisoners of sin, of what destroys us.” The fire he came to bring, he explained, has the power to break our chains and restore our freedom to love. There are wounds to be healed, failings to be acknowledged and, whenever possible, wrongs to be made right. For this reason, he urged the young people: “Allow Christ to transform you. Do not be afraid to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation. How wonderful it is to know that our sins can be forgiven. Pray, read the Gospel and draw near to the Eucharist. The One who gave his life for us awaits us.”
Finally, the third “everyone” – “everyone like Christ” – became an invitation to holiness and service: “Become saints!” The Pope recalled Jesus’ gesture of kneeling at his disciples’ feet to wash them: “The Lord of everyone became the servant of everyone!” He invited the young people to share their y bread with those who are hungry, open their doors to those who have no home, visit the sick and those whom no one wants to visit. He also drew attention to less visible forms of suffering that cannot be seen: some need guidance or correction, others await words of consolation, and still others need to know that they are loved. “The Lord gives us so many opportunities to be like him. May your lives become pages of the Gospel, written in the ink of mercy, so that those who meet you may recognize in you something of the love and joy of Jesus,” he urged.
At the end of the vigil, Leo XIV entrusted the young people with a missionary mandate: “Go and proclaim!” He invited them to return to their cities and towns, reaching every corner and every periphery, so that those who feel far from God may discover, through them, that Christ is seeking them. The joy of encountering the Lord, in fact, springs from friendship with him and impels us to bring him to others: it cannot remain an experience kept only for ourselves.
Before leaving, the Pope blessed the cross that will travel through the communities. “May the fire of Christ’s love also pass from one heart to another.”
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