Pope visits sites tied to Polish saints in Krakow

Francis, at another massive gathering in the same field Saturday, urged young people not to become “couch potatoes”, saying they should try to ignore computer screens and video games in favor of activism and political interaction.

At the end of the final mass in Brzegi Pope Francis announced that the next World Youth Day’s host will be the Republic of Panama. “Don’t let your soul grow numb, but aim for the goal of a attractive love which also demands sacrifice”.

He said their response to life’s challenges can’t be “texting a few words”, and that prayer should be given pride of place over internet “chats”.

Francis waved to the crowds as he toured the site in his popemobile at the start of a ceremony on Sunday morning.

Concluding his address to the young people, the Pope said: “Today Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, is calling you to leave your mark on history”.

Each one of them was able to ask Pope Francis a question, to which he replied with the help of an interpreter. “This is a great temptation; it has to do not only with self-esteem, but with faith itself”, he said.

“On a daily basis, our children face hate attacks, verbal assaults and even physical violence only because they were created that way by God”, said the parents, who did not publish their full names for fear of reprisals.

The Pope added that God does not dwell on personal faults and is always looking to good that can be done in the future.

Jesus took all of this upon himself, including our sin, Pope Francis said.

“In his eyes”, Francis told the captivated audience, “you are precious, and your value is inestimable”. He doesn’t care whether you are stylish or not; he cares about you.

“So I ask you: Are you looking for empty thrills in life, or do you want to feel a power that can give you a lasting sense of life and fulfilment?” “It must have been quite a struggle – on one hand, a healthy curiosity and desire to know Jesus; on the other, the risk of appearing completely ridiculous”.

However, Francis also noted that Jesus chose to come into this reality, and to carry the weight of this cruelty on his shoulders.

In a Catholic News Service interview after the Mass, Poland’s primate, Archbishop Wojciech Polak of Gniezno, said he believed the pope’s summons to clergy to be “living writers of the Gospel” represented a “theological novelty” in papal teaching.

In a message to the world’s young, he said it was up to them to fight xenophobia and “teach us how to live in diversity, in dialogue, to experience multiculturalism not as a threat, but an opportunity”.

He drew applause when he said in Polish “Do widzenia”, which means “until we see each other again”.

On the fourth day of his trip to Poland for an worldwide gathering of Catholic youth, Francis addressed some 2,000 Polish bishops and priests gathered at a shrine dedicated to the late Pope John Paul, who died in 2005 and was made a saint in 2014.

“Trust the memory of God: his memory is not a “hard disk” that saves and archives all our data, but a tender heart full of compassion that rejoices in definitively erasing every trace of evil”, the pope said.

At this point, the Pope invited everyone to join hands for a moment of silent prayer, which he said afterwords reminded him of the scene of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost.

Pope Francis pointed to an image of the Virgin Mary behind the altar which had been venerated by St. John Paul II at the Shrine of Kalwaria.