Church's Next Generation Holds Slumber Party, Greets Pope

Hundreds of thousands of young Catholics poured into a vast field on Rome's outskirts on Saturday for the weekend highlight of the Vatican's 2025 Holy Year: an evening vigil, outdoor slumber party, and morning Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV that marks his first big encounter with the next generation of Catholics. Leo arrived by helicopter as the sun set over the Tor Vergata field and immediately boarded his open-topped popemobile for loops through the flag-waving, cheering pilgrims, the AP reports. They had already been partying for hours, setting up campsites for the night as misting trucks and water cannons spritzed them to offer relief from the 85-degree heat.

"As a young person, having the chance to live this meeting with the pope I feel it is a spiritual growth," said Francisco Michel of Mexico. For the past week, crowds from around the world have poured into Rome for the special Jubilee celebration, in a Holy Year in which 32 million people are expected to descend on the Vatican in a centuries-old pilgrimage to the seat of Catholicism. The youths have been traipsing down cobblestoned streets in color-coordinated T-shirts, praying the Rosary, and singing hymns accompanied by guitars, bongo drums, and tambourines. Using flags to shield them from the sun, they have taken over piazzas for Christian rock concerts and inspirational talks, and they stood for hours at the Circus Maximus to confess their sins to 1,000 priests offering the sacrament in a dozen languages.

The first American pope was presiding over the vigil Saturday night. He was to return to the Vatican for the night and come back for another popemobile tour and Mass on Sunday. Officials had initially expected 500,000 youngsters this weekend, but Leo hinted the number might reach 1 million. "It's a bit messed up, but this is what is nice about the Jubilee," said Chloe Jobbour, a 19-year-old Lebanese Catholic. She said it had taken two hours to get dinner at an overwhelmed KFC. And the school that offered her group housing is an hour away by bus. But Jobbour didn't mind: It's all part of the experience. "I don't expect it to be better than that," she said. "I expected it this way."