Pope Francis urged young people on Thursday not to be fooled by the illusions of the virtual world at the welcoming ceremony for World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon.
“These are the illusions of the virtual world, and we must be careful not to be deceived because many realities that attract us and promise us happiness later turn out to be what they are, vain things, superfluous things, things that are useless and leave us empty inside,” Francis said in Parque Eduardo VII, known these days as the Hill of Encounter.
Earlier, Francis told the young people in Spanish, calling them tu, that many today are not called by their name.
“Indeed, your name is known, it appears on social networks, and it is processed by algorithms that associate you with tastes and preferences. But all this does not question your uniqueness, but your usefulness for market studies”, he warned, asking: “How many wolves hide behind smiles of false kindness, saying they know who you are, but without wanting you well, implying that they believe in you and promising that you will be someone, and then leave you alone when you are no longer useful to them”.
To the hundreds of thousands of young people (the authorities have indicated half a million people), the leader of the Roman Catholic Church wished that “these are days” in which the name of the young people, “through brothers and sisters of so many languages, so many nations who pronounce it with friendship, resounds as a unique news in history, because unique is the pulse of God”.
“Friend, friend, if God calls you by name, it means that for God, none of us is a number. We are a face. We are a heart,” he said.
“We, your Church, are the community of those who are called. We are not the community of the best, we are all sinners, but we are called, just as we are, with the problems we have, with the limitations we have”, but also with this “overflowing joy, with the will to be better”, he continued.
In his first meeting with young people at WYD, Francis, in Spanish, reported that he had been asked many questions this afternoon, urging the young people to “never tire of asking” because “asking is good and more, asking is better than giving answers”.
“Those who ask questions remain restless, and restlessness is the best remedy for routine, sometimes a kind of normality that anaesthetises the soul,” Francis added.
The risks that young people run by exchanging the real world for the virtual one had already been addressed at WYD on Tuesday by the Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon at the opening Mass.
In front of thousands of pilgrims gathered in Parque Eduardo VII, Manuel Clemente emphasised that many things can stop young people, such as the virtual world that prevents them from meeting others.
“Virtuality keeps us seated, in front of means that easily use us when we think we use them,” said the WYD host, adding: “On the contrary, consistent reality puts us on the road to meet others and the world as it is, both to admire it and to make it better.”
WYD, which began on Tuesday, is considered the Roman Catholic Church’s biggest event, with more than a million people expected in Lisbon.
The main ceremonies of the day are taking place in Parque Tejo, north of Parque das Nações, on the riverside of the Tagus, on land owned by the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures, and in Parque Eduardo VII, in the centre of the capital.
