In recent days, Pope Leo XIV made his first apostolic journey since being elected as Peter’s successor. It was a truly important trip during which, together with various leaders of different Churches—foremost among them the Patriarch of Constantinople—he commemorated the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, where the formulation of that profession of faith which we make every Sunday when we recite the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed was established, in all our churches and in the different liturgies.

From Turkey, the Pope continued his journey to Lebanon with a strong message of peace and hope for the Middle East. He repeatedly emphasised how the political, social, and cultural balance which this nation strives to embrace, despite various challenges, must continue to serve as a testimony that peace is possible, though not without suffering.

Yet perhaps his strongest words, filled with confidence and hope, were those he addressed to the young people during his meeting with them in Bkerké, in the square beside the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Maronites. Just as he had done on the day of his election, so too here he began his address with a greeting of peace, this time in Lebanese: “Assalamu lakum!” In this context he also greeted the young people who had come from Syria and Iraq, as well as the Lebanese youths who had returned to their homeland for the occasion.

And he entrusted them with the mission to be signs of hope and to work for peace, because they possess something adults often seem to have lost:

You have hope!  You have time!  You have more time to dream, to plan and to do good.  You are the present, and the future is already taking shape in your hands!  You have the enthusiasm to change the course of history!  The true opposition to evil is not evil, but love – a love capable of healing one’s own wounds while also caring for the wounds of others.

These words made me think deeply. Words so carefully put and delivered with such strength are not meant only for the young people of the East; how beautiful it would be if they also reached our young people in the West, dominated as we are by a culture of indifference and alienation that keeps us from stepping outside ourselves. And time slips through our fingers—as the ABBA song goes. At the same time, if our cynicism and frustrations prevent us from giving space and opportunities, we will not believe in or place our trust in those who have time and who are meant to be full of dreams and enthusiasm, but who often find obstacles or prefer not to take risks. After all, what greater gift of hope can we offer the world than to believe in those who hold in their hands the energy of the present and the hope for a deeply rooted vision for the future?