Pope makes telephone call to
young Italians on pilgrimage
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| Pope Francis waves to onlookers. (Vatican Media) |
In a telephone conversation with young Italian pilgrims
participating in the Macerata-Loreto Night March on Saturday, Pope Francis
urges them to seek true happiness which consists in loving and letting oneself
be loved.
“Life is a journey. Always move forward, seeking happiness
for yourselves and for others.” That was Pope Francis’ message to the young
people participating in the annual Macerata-Loreto Night March pilgrimage that
took place in the Italian towns on Saturday evening.
The event saw tens of thousands of young pilgrims walk 28
kilometers at night through the hills in the Italian “Le Marche” region from
Macerata to the House of Loreto.
‘You can't stand still in life’
"[You are] brave young people who set out on your way
... It’s a good sign,” the Pope said, "because in life one cannot remain
still … because a young person who stands still is like a retiree at the age of
20, and this is a bad thing." Youth, he said, is to be lived well, “so go
out and bear fruit.”
‘Happiness is loving and letting oneself be loved’
"Happiness”, Pope Francis said “is not something you
buy at the supermarket. Happiness comes only in loving and letting oneself be
loved, that is, loving others. Wars do not give you happiness; enmities do not
make you happy; gossip does not make you happy.”
"Love and service to one another is the path to
happiness.”
The Pope invited them to "always go forward, looking at
the horizon, taking life one step at a time.”
Thanksgiving for school year
The annual Macerata-Loreto Night March began in 1978, as an
idea by Fr. Giancarlo Vecerrica, now bishop emeritus of Fabriano-Matelica. He
started the pilgrimage as a way for Italian students to give thanks to Our Lady
in Loreto at the end of the school year.
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