Pope John Paul II (1920 - 2005)

Inspiring words from Pope John Paul II to the youth of the world

(These are just a very small selection: for all the Pope's speeches to young people click on www.vatican.va.)

To young people in New York, 1979

The Church needs you. The world needs you, because it needs Christ and you belong to Christ. And so I ask you to accept your responsibility in the Church, the responsibility of your Catholic education: to help - by your words and above all by the example of your lives - to spread the Gospel. You do this by praying, and by being just, truthful and pure.

Dear young people: by a real Christian life, by the practice of your religion, you are called to give witness to your faith. And because actions speak louder than words you are called to proclaim by the conduct of your daily lives that you really do believe that Jesus Christ is Lord!

To youth of Scotland, 1982

Left alone to face the difficult challenges of life today, you feel conscious of your inadequacy and afraid of what the future may hold for you. But what I say to you is this: place your lives in the hands of Jesus. He will accept you, and bless you, and he will make such use of your lives as will be beyond your greatest expectations! In other words: surrender yourselves, like so many loaves and fishes, into the all-powerful, sustaining hands of God and you will find yourselves transformed with "newness of life", with fullness of life. "Unload your burden on the Lord, and he will support you".

It is not of primary importance what walk of life naturally attracts you - industry or commerce, science or engineering, medicine or nursing, the priestly or religious life, or the law, or teaching, or some other form of public service - the principle remains always the same: hand the direction of your life over to Jesus and allow him to transform you and obtain the best results, the one he wishes from you.

To youth of New Zealand, 1986

This period in your life, the time of youth, is a period of special importance. The decisions you make now, the friendships you form, the values you choose to live by, the goals you set for yourselves - these will shape your personal future and have an impact on the future of society. I am always happy to be with young people because I enjoy your enthusiasm and hope. As you face the challenges of youth, I am eager to assure you of the love of Christ and to remind you of the Gospel he preached, the Good News of truth, freedom and salvation.

Dear young friends: you are at a turning point in your lives, and by Christ's grace and his love it may happen today. Some of you may have known doubt and confusion; you may have experienced sadness and failure and serious sin. For all of you, however, this is an important time in your lives. It is a time of decision. It is a time to accept Christ: to accept his friendship and love, to accept the truth of his word and to believe in his promises; to acknowledge that his teaching will lead you to happiness and finally to eternal life. It is a time to accept Christ as he lives in his Body, the Church.

You have already been united with Christ in Baptism and the Eucharist, and now he is seeking you out in a particular way in these years of your youth. However great your love for Jesus may be, his love for you is far greater. He knows each of you by name. He knows when you need forgiveness and he knows your desire to forgive. He knows you better than you know yourself. Jesus loves you immensely, for he laid down his life for you.

All of us can get lost at times, lost within ourselves or lost in the world about us. Allow Christ to find you, to speak to you, to ask of you whatever he wants. Be sure of this: obedience to God's will is the way to a fruitful life, the way to loving union with Christ.

To the youth of Cuba, 1998

Christ offers you his friendship. He gave his life so that those who wish to answer his call can indeed become his friends. His is a friendship which is deep, genuine, loyal and total, as all true friendship must be. This is how young people ought to relate to one other, for youth without friendship is impoverished and diminished. Friendship is nourished by sacrifice for the sake of serving one's friends and truly loving them. And without such sacrifice there can be no real friendship, no truly healthy youth, no future for one's country, no genuine religion.

Listen, then, to the voice of Christ! In your lives, Christ is drawing near and saying to you: "Follow me". Do not close yourselves off from his love. Do not turn away. Heed his message. Each of you has received a call from him. He knows each of you by name. Let yourselves be guided by Christ as you seek that which can help you to achieve your full potential. Open the doors of your heart and your life to Jesus, "the true hero, humble and wise, the prophet of truth and love, the companion and friend of young people"

Do not succumb to the lack of vision which leads to destroying one's personality through alcoholism, drugs, sexual irresponsibility and prostitution, the constant pursuit of new experiences. Do not take refuge in sects, alienating spiritualist cults or groups which are completely foreign to the culture and tradition of your country.

"Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous. Let all that you do be done in love" (1 Cor 16:13-14). But what does it mean to be courageous? It means to overcome evil in all its forms. The worst evil is sin, which causes all sorts of suffering and can even lurk within us, negatively affecting our behaviour. And so, while it is right to be committed to the struggle against evil in its public and social manifestations, the first duty of believers is to fight against sin, the root of all the forms of evil which can take root in the human heart, and to resist its enticements with God's help.

To youth of St Louis, USA, 1999

When you were little, were you sometimes afraid of the dark? Today you are no longer children afraid of the dark. You are teenagers and young adults. But already you realize that there is another kind of darkness in the world: the darkness of doubt and uncertainty. You may feel the darkness of loneliness and isolation. Your anxieties may come from questions about your future, or regrets about past choices.

Sometimes the world itself seems filled with darkness. The darkness of children who go hungry and even die. The darkness of homeless people who lack work and proper medical care. The darkness of violence: violence against the unborn child, violence in families, the violence of gangs, the violence of sexual abuse, the violence of drugs that destroy the body, mind and heart. There is something terribly wrong when so many young people are overcome by hopelessness to the point of taking their own lives. And already in parts of this nation, laws have been passed which allow doctors to end the lives of the very people they are sworn to help. God's gift of life is being rejected. Death is chosen over life, and this brings with it the darkness of despair.

But you believe in the light (cf. Jn 12:36)! Do not listen to those who encourage you to lie, to shirk responsibility, to put yourselves first. Do not listen to those who tell you that chastity is passé. In your hearts you know that true love is a gift from God and respects his plan for the union of man and woman in marriage. Do not be taken in by false values and deceptive slogans, especially about your freedom. True freedom is a wonderful gift from God, and it has been a cherished part of your country's history. But when freedom is separated from truth, individuals lose their moral direction and the very fabric of society begins to unravel.

Freedom is not the ability to do anything we want, whenever we want. Rather, freedom is the ability to live responsibly the truth of our relationship with God and with one another. Remember what Jesus said: "you will know the truth and the truth will set you free" (Jn 8:32). Let no one mislead you or prevent you from seeing what really matters. Turn to Jesus, listen to him, and discover the true meaning and direction of your lives.

You are children of the light (cf. Jn 12:36)! You belong to Christ, and he has called you by name. Your first responsibility is to get to know as much as you can about him, in your parishes, in religious instruction in your high schools and colleges, in your youth groups and Newman Centers.

But you will get to know him truly and personally only through prayer. What is needed is that you talk to him, and listen to him.

Today we are living in an age of instant communications. But do you realize what a unique form of communication prayer is? Prayer enables us to meet God at the most profound level of our being. It connects us directly to God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in a constant exchange of love.

Through prayer you will learn to become the light of the world, because in prayer you become one with the source of our true light, Jesus himself.

To young people at World Youth Day, Rome, 2000

Dear young people of the century now beginning, in saying "yes" to Christ, you say "yes" to all your noblest ideals. I pray that he will reign in your hearts and in all of humanity in the new century and the new millennium. Have no fear of entrusting yourselves to him! He will guide you, he will grant you the strength to follow him every day and in every situation.

Today you have come together to declare that in the new century you will not let yourselves be made into tools of violence and destruction; you will defend peace, paying the price in your person if need be. You will not resign yourselves to a world where other human beings die of hunger, remain illiterate and have no work. You will defend life at every moment of its development; you will strive with all your strength to make this earth ever more livable for all people.

To young people in Damascus, 2001

Today you may be asking questions like: "What road should I take?", "What should I do with my life?", "Whom should I follow?" Don't be afraid to take time to reflect with older people, in order to consider seriously the choices you have to make, choices which involve listening to Jesus Christ as he invites you to follow him along the demanding path of a courageous witness to values worth living for and worth giving your lives for: values such as truth, faith, human dignity, unity, peace and love. With the help of Christ and his Church, you will develop each day into men and women who are free and responsible for their own lives, actively involved in the life of their Church, in strengthening relationships between their religious and social communities, and in building an ever more just and fraternal society.

The Lord Jesus asks his disciples to be signs in the midst of the world, visible and credible agents of his saving presence wherever they live and work. It is not merely in words but above all by a particular lifestyle, one marked by a free heart and a creative spirit, that you will help the young people of your generation to discover that your joy and the source of your happiness is Christ. Do not separate your faith from your daily life and your daily life from your faith, as so many people do today. The life and the whole being of each Christian must be unified around a central axis: fidelity to Jesus Christ. In this way each Christian will constantly be able to repeat with the Apostle: "I know him in whom I have believed" (2 Tim 1:12).

To young people at World Youth Day, Toronto, 2002

Dear friends, the aged Pope, full of years but still young at heart, answers your youthful desire for happiness with words that are not his own. They are words that rang out two thousand years ago. Words that we have heard again tonight: "Blessed are they ..." The key word in Jesus' teaching is a proclamation of joy: "Blessed are they ..."

People are made for happiness. Rightly, then, you thirst for happiness. Christ has the answer to this desire of yours. But he asks you to trust him. True joy is a victory, something which cannot be obtained without a long and difficult struggle. Christ holds the secret of this victory.

Blessing for young people, World Youth Day, Toronto 2002

Lord Jesus Christ, proclaim once more
your Beatitudes in the presence of these young people,
gathered in Toronto for the World Youth Day.
Look upon them with love and listen to their young hearts,
ready to put their future on the line for you.
You have called them to be
the "salt of the earth and light of the world".
Continue to teach them the truth and beauty
of the vision that you proclaimed on the Mountain.
Make them men and women of the Beatitudes!
Let the light of your wisdom shine upon them,
so that in word and deed they may spread
in the world the light and salt of the Gospel.
Make their whole life a bright reflection of you,
who are the true light that came into this world
so that whoever believes in you will not die,
but will have eternal life (cf. Jn 3:16)!