“Be open to what the Lord has in store for you,” Pope Leo XIV said in a video address to thousands of youth and young adults attending the SEEK 2026 conference.
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Pope Leo XIV encouraged American youth in a unique digital discussion Nov. 21, telling them that they were not only the “future of the Church,” but “the present,” saying “your voices, your ideas, your faith matter right now.”
Young people must take control of technology and “humanize” online spaces to be friendly, creative places — not isolated echo chambers, forms of addiction, or ways to escape, Pope Leo XIV said.
Catholic education, which has changed over the centuries, must continue to evolve to help young people face the challenges not only of technology but of confusion about the meaning and purpose of life, Pope Leo XIV said.
An annual observance centered on vocations is a moment for prayer and rededication to helping young people find their place in God’s plan, Bishop Earl A. Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, said.
True disciples of Christ listen to and understand others, and they always speak the truth, even in the presence of those who are powerful, Pope Leo XIV said.
The greatest risk in life is to waste it by not seeking to follow God’s plan, Pope Leo XIV said, proclaiming two new saints — two young laymen of the 20th and 21st centuries.
A recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, Edith Torres Monzón arrived at the Diocese of Dallas in July to serve as the associate director of Outreach and Diversity Office of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministries.