Pope Francis' Beautiful Video Message to Youth "St. John Paul II was an extraordinary gift from God to the Church..." Full Text

VIDEO MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS

TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF KRAKOW
ON THE CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF ST. JOHN PAUL II

Dear young people,

this year we celebrate the hundred years since the birth of St. John Paul II . It is a good opportunity for me to address you, young people from Krakow, thinking about how much he loved young people, and remembering my coming among you for WYD 2016.

St. John Paul II was an extraordinary gift from God to the Church and Poland, your homeland. His earthly pilgrimage, which began on 18 May 1920 in Wadowice and ended 15 years ago in Rome, was marked by a passion for life and a fascination for the mystery of God, of the world and of man.

I remember him as a great man of mercy: I think of the Encyclical Dives in misericordia , the canonization of Saint Faustina and the institution of the Sunday of Divine Mercy . In the light of God's merciful love, he grasped the specificity and beauty of the vocation of women and men, understood the needs of children, young people and adults, also considering cultural and social conditions. Everyone could experience it. You too can experience it today, knowing its life and its teachings, available to everyone thanks to the internet.

Each and every one of you, dear boys and girls, bears the imprint of your family, with its joys and sorrows. Love and care for the family is a characteristic trait of John Paul II . His teaching represents a sure point of reference for finding concrete solutions to the difficulties and challenges that families face today (cf. Message to the Conference "John Paul II, the Pope of the family" , Rome, 30 October 2019).

But personal and family problems are not an obstacle on the way to holiness and happiness. They were not even for the young Karol Wojtyła, who suffered the loss of his mother, brother and father as a boy. As a student he experienced the atrocities of Nazism, which took away many friends from him. After the war, as a priest and bishop he had to face atheist communism.

Difficulties, even harsh ones, are proof of maturity and faith; proof that it is overcome only on the basis of the power of Christ who died and rose again. John Paul II has reminded him of the whole Church since his first Encyclical, Redemptor hominis , where he says: «The man who wants to understand himself to the end [...] must, with his restlessness and uncertainty and also with his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into him with all of himself "(n. 10).

Dear young people, this is what I wish each of you: to enter Christ with all your life. And I hope that the celebrations of the centenary of the birth of St. John Paul II inspire in you the desire to walk courageously with Jesus, who is "the Lord of risk, he is the Lord of always" beyond ". [...] The Lord, as at Pentecost, wants to accomplish one of the greatest miracles we can experience: to make your hands, my hands, our hands turn into signs of reconciliation, of communion, of creation. He wants your hands - boy, girl, he wants your hands - to continue building today's world "( WYD Vigil Speech , Krakow, 30 July 2016).

I entrust you all to the intercession of Saint John Paul II and I cordially bless you. And you, please, don't forget to pray for me. Thanks!

FULL TEXT Source: Vatican.va -  a Translation from the Original Italian