Pope Leo XIV has addressed a message to young people around the world on the occasion of the XLI World Youth Day (WYD), which will be celebrated in the local Churches on November 22, the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe, and will have its international gathering in Seoul, South Korea, from August 3 to 8, 2027. Under the theme “Take courage: I have overcome the world!” (Jn 16:33), the Pontiff invites young people to discover that true Christian courage does not arise from their own strength, but from the presence of Christ and His victory over sin and death.
In the message published this Tuesday, November 3, by the Holy See, Leo XIV addresses some of the difficulties faced by the new generations, such as the pressure to achieve success, the influence of social media, loneliness, and fear of the future. In response to these concerns, he reminds them that human dignity does not depend on the image each person constructs of themselves, but on having been created in the image of God and loved by Him.
The Pope also urges young people not to confuse victory with personal success or superiority over others, and presents Christ’s self-giving as the model of a life founded on love, humility, and trust in God. Looking ahead to the gathering in Seoul, he encourages them to prepare not only the journey, but also their hearts, recalling the invitation of Saint John Paul II: “Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors to Christ!”
Below is the full message of the Holy Father:
“Take courage: I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33).
Dear young people:
<p»>With this message I wish to draw near to all of you, and first of all I want to thank God for the gift that you are to the Church and to society. He knows you, loves you, and accompanies you on the journey of life. His Spirit stirs in all of you, even though you are so different and scattered throughout the world, the same aspiration for great and lasting things, urging you to seek freedom and truth. Your desire to love and be loved comes from God, as does the hope that the Holy Spirit awakens in your hearts: a hope that can also become light for others. For all this I give thanks to the Lord.</p»>
<p»>We are preparing to celebrate the XLI World Youth Day in the local Churches on November 22, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe; and we are already looking toward our international gathering in Seoul in August 2027. In preparation for these events, I wish to entrust to you the words of Jesus: “Take courage: I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). On these words, which form the theme that will guide us in the coming months, we now begin to reflect together.</p»>
Where does courage come from?
The words of Christ begin with an invitation to courage. I know well that sometimes, in us as in the first disciples, uncertainty or fear may prevail instead of courage. Many of you have questions and concerns that weigh upon the heart. Perhaps you experience fears about the future, feel the pressure to succeed and appear perfect, and are exposed to the stress of constant comparison with others or with unreachable and artificial models. It may be difficult to recognize and accept your identity under the influence of images constructed by social media; you perceive the need for sincere affection, because technology can imitate empathy, but it does not replace authentic human closeness. Some of you know loneliness, disappointment, or the fear of not measuring up.
For these reasons, perhaps you too have felt like the disciples of Jesus, in a small boat crossing the lake at night. The wind grows stronger, the waves rise, and the shore disappears into the darkness. In similar circumstances, an invitation to courage resounds in the Gospel. Jesus comes to meet His disciples and says to them: “It is I; do not be afraid” (cf. Jn 6:20). This is the certainty I wish to entrust to your hearts: before you begin to seek Christ, He is already near you, walking upon the troubled waters of life. Christian courage does not arise from our own strength; it arises from His presence.
Certainly, Christ did not have a life without storms, nor does He promise us one. But no darkness or suffering is stronger than His love. He never abandons you; He invites you to friendship with Him and to entrust to Him your own path and that of your communities. Allow yourselves therefore to be found by Jesus Christ who is seeking you, and entrust to Him your personal and communal journey. You will feel a new courage growing in your heart, one that does not fade.
The victory over the world
The Lord Jesus, who came to meet His disciples walking upon the waters, now says to us: “Take courage: I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). Receive these words as a promise addressed personally to each of you and to the brothers and sisters with whom you are on the journey. These words, before being an exhortation, are a gift. Christ does not say: “You will overcome the world”; He says: “I have overcome the world.” We know that by “world,” in this Gospel passage, is not meant the universe created and loved by God and destined for salvation, but the “world of darkness” (cf. Eph 6:12), that is, that mysterious reality, present also in the heart of every human being, which resists God and opposes Him. Jesus, and Jesus alone, by His death and resurrection, has overcome this dark reality and has opened to humanity the way to God, to happiness, to justice, and to peace.
Thus we understand other aspects of the courage to which Jesus invites us. It does not arise from your own resolutions or from the strength of your character. It arises from trust in the One who goes before you; it arises from faith in Jesus Christ. If we consider that Christ has overcome the world by loving it, we understand that Christian courage is not a courage “against” something or someone, but a courage “for”: for life, for truth, for freedom, and for justice.
With the courage that Christ gives us, we can look with new eyes upon the world that God so loved (cf. Jn 3:16). To us too is entrusted our own small part, so that we may pass from a “world of darkness” to a “world saved.” Christ does not call you to flee from this world, but to see it with His gaze and to touch it with His love that heals all things. Let yourselves be reached and moved by this reality! Jesus did not love the world from afar. He entered fully into our reality, humbling Himself even to the cross (cf. Phil 2:7-8). He knew joy and friendship, but also weariness, rejection, loneliness, and suffering, without allowing His heart to close.
You too live in a created world that is good, yet wounded; full of possibilities, yet marked by injustices, tensions, and fears. Many desire peace, but encounter violence; many long for communion, but experience loneliness. Amid these contradictions, Christians are called to follow Christ in His humble courage: the courage to be kind when harshness seems easier and more decisive, the courage to seek peace when confrontation seems more advantageous, the courage to guard hope when cynicism seems more convincing.
The victory of self-giving love
Hearing talk of “victory,” some might think it means being stronger than others, imposing oneself, or continually proving one’s worth. But these are the victories that the prevailing mentality proposes, the victories of the world without God. If we look to Jesus, we find another kind of victory. Saint Paul says that Christ, who was in the form of God, emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (cf. Phil 2:6-7). The Son of God lowers Himself because His love is free; He has nothing to prove or secure for Himself; in lowering Himself He does not lose His dignity, but reveals the height and depth of His divine heart, capable of giving life to what was dead. His victory is the victory of love that gives itself without reserve.
Dear young people: true victory is not imposing oneself, but giving oneself. Following the path opened by Jesus Christ, you too do not need to impose yourselves, nor continually prove your worth, nor appear perfect or hide your fragilities, your doubts, or your limits. Have the courage to be authentic before God and before others. Your dignity does not arise from the image you manage to construct of yourselves. You are precious because you are created in the image of God, known by Him, and loved by Him. We discover who we truly are when we realize that our heart was created by God, to love Him and, in Him, to love our brothers and sisters. Indeed, there exists within us the desire to give ourselves, to spend ourselves for the happiness and good of others. This is the freedom that Christ offers you: to go beyond exclusive concern for yourselves and to open yourselves to the generous creativity of love.
The courage of humility
The self-emptying of Christ out of love for us does not end on the cross; the Father raises the Son and exalts Him above every creature (cf. Phil 2:9-11). Let us note that the resurrection is not an act of self-exaltation; it is a gift of the Father and of His Holy Spirit. Here we discover another aspect of courage: the courage to receive. We may call it the courage of humility. To be friends of Jesus means to become more and more like Him in this.
A certain mentality tells us to do everything on our own, to work on ourselves to improve continually, to build a stronger personality and character, but in the end this can lead us to believe that we are our own saviors. The Gospel presents us with another path of growth: we are not saved alone, but we allow ourselves to be saved by Jesus Christ. What is asked of us here is the courage to accept the help of others, to recognize our own limits, to stop, to listen, and to entrust our life to God.
Dear young people: by opening your heart to Christ you will not be lost; on the contrary, you will discover more deeply who you are in the eyes of God and will know yourselves with His gaze. Return, then, to the depths of your hearts: you will not go astray, because it is there that God awaits you. Allow yourselves to be saved by Him; let His love—the Holy Spirit—shape your lives and let Jesus dwell in you, in your decisions. When this happens, everything is renewed, even in everyday situations: in fidelity to friends, in respect for those who think differently from you, in attention to the lonely, in closeness to the weakest, and also in the way you behave in the digital world. Everything is transformed by love. For many, love is a form of weakness; yet Christ shows us that it is a source of freedom and strength.
The Risen Christ meets you with His peace
On the evening of the resurrection, when the light of Easter had already entered the world, the disciples were still in the upper room with the doors closed, full of fear. Faith does not quickly dispel the darkness, but it does not leave us alone in the midst of it. Jesus, the Victor, does not wait for the disciples to have overcome fear or to open the doors. He stands in their midst and His first words are: “Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:19). They had abandoned Him. One of them had betrayed Him, another had denied Him. He gives them His peace.
Perhaps in your hearts and in the communities to which you belong there are also doors still closed because of disappointments, wounds, resentments, or feelings of guilt. Christ comes to give you His peace and to reconcile you with one another. Christian courage is born of the presence of the Risen Lord, who forgives and sends. The gift of His peace infuses us with a courage that the world cannot give; a courage in which, despite wounds, fear does not have the last word.
Open your heart to Christ
When we meet in Seoul, you will experience in a particular way the beauty of the universal Church and the generous welcome of the Church in Korea. Young people from different nations, languages, and cultures will be united in Christ. In the Eucharist, in the Way of the Cross, in the catecheses, in the celebrations, and in the many encounters of those days, you will experience anew that the Gospel transcends all borders and speaks to all peoples. Let those days become a true encounter with Jesus Christ, a favorable moment to entrust your lives to Him. This is why the World Youth Days were born. Our pilgrimage has already begun. Do not prepare only the practical things for the journey to Seoul; prepare your hearts!
Bring to Christ your questions, your wounds, even those that tear apart your societies and pit your countries against one another. Bring to Him this creation that groans and suffers, the cry of the earth and of the poor, which Pope Francis has taught us to hear. Share with Jesus your joys and hopes. In light of all this, I make my own the words with which Saint John Paul II began his pontificate: “Do not be afraid! Open wide, more widely, the doors to Christ!” Do not wait to be perfect to open yourselves to Him. He comes to meet you just as you are. Open your lives to Christ. Open your communities to Christ. Open the streets that lead to the hearts of the people you meet. The Risen Lord, who entered through closed doors, continues to come among you today. Therefore, do not settle for a life smaller than the one to which Christ calls you. Allow yourselves to be united and transformed by His love.
Dear young people: I deeply desire to meet you in Seoul. But remember: the Lord whom we will meet there has already gone out to meet you. Receive His promise: “Take courage: I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33) and let Him accompany you along the entire journey.
I entrust each of you to the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, so that she may teach you, as she herself did, to open your heart to Christ, to trust in His word, and to receive His peace with joy, in order to share it with all.
Vatican, October 22, 2026, Memorial of Saint John Paul II.
LEO PP. XIV