Pope Leo XIV, delivering a message of hope to young people on the Jumbotron at the White Sox stadium in Chicago Saturday, was important in the church's mission to cultivate young people, Father Enrique Salvo, rector at St. Patrick Cathedral in New York City, said Sunday on Newsmax.
"It's very important, especially in this very exciting time, that we have the first American Pope," Salvo said on Newsmax's "Sunday Agenda." "But it's so important now to cultivate young people because they are coming back. They are realizing that they need God. But we, of course, have to encourage them. We have to be there for them."
And Leo, a Chicago native, "provided a beneficial thing for all of them" with his message, said Salvo.
In his message, the Pope urged those listening in the stadium and online to be beacons of hope and inspire others.
"To share that message of hope with one another — in outreach, in service, in looking for ways to make our world a better place — gives true life to all of us and is a sign of hope for the whole world," he said.
"Meanwhile, the United States is experiencing a spiritual rebirth, because people are waking up knowing that we can't live our lives without God, without his grace in our lives," said Salvo.
"I think people are realizing that that's the only way, and that all of the problems that we have are because we're not living with God," he added. "It's a beautiful thing to see. It's happening everywhere that people are returning, and it's something that we must celebrate and encourage."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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