Teenagers gathered in Rome experience historic Jubilee

Image: CBCEW

Source: Vatican Media, CBCEW

As the Jubilee Year continues in Rome under a modified schedule due to Pope Francis' death, the Jubilee of Teenagers took place over the weekend, with tens of thousands of young people from around the world gathered in the Eternal City.

For the group leaders who made it possible for young people to live this unique experience, adjustments had to be made.

A vigil had been planned with the late Pope, but all were able to attend the funeral to pay their final respects.

Though the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, another scheduled highlight of this Jubilee of Teenagers, has been postponed, tens of thousands of teenagers full of joy participated on Sunday in the second 'Novemdiales' (nine days of mourning) Mass in honour of Pope Francis.

Among the crowds was a group of young people from Westminster Diocese, accompanied by Bishop Nicholas Hudson.

They said in a statement at thge start of their trip: "Despite the sadness, there is an undercurrent of energy and purpose. This weekend still marks the Jubilee of Teenagers, and on Sunday, we'll be part of that celebration.

"Perhaps this will be the real message of our pilgrimage: that the Church, like life itself, holds both grief and hope in the same breath. That even as we mourn the Holy Father, we are also witnesses to continuity, to legacy, and to the enduring presence of a renewal of faith in the Church.

"We came expecting to witness a saint made. Instead, we are here to honour a pope laid to rest. And in doing so, we find ourselves part of a deeper, more mysterious journey-one we never planned for, but one that will, no doubt, shape us just the same."

Read their full report here: https://rcdow.org.uk/news/youth-pilgrimage-to-rome-day-1-report/