Pope Leo XIV entered by helicopter like a rock star at an open-air prayer vigil in Rome, where over a million pilgrims gathered to see him.
Believers began to cry and cheer as the white military helicopter descended over the vigil, where young believers from 146 countries gathered as part of a 'Youth Jubilee'.
After boarding his classic vehicle on Sunday, the first American pope, 69, smiled and greeted the roaring crowds who had gathered to hear the Pope speak at the event.
“Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less,” Pope Leo told the crowd. The week-long “Youth Jubilee” – a highlight of the holy Jubilee year – was a major undertaking for the Vatican, with half a million young pilgrims in Rome for most of the week.
On Saturday night, ahead of a sunset vigil led by the pope, organizers said there were 800,000 people in the vast open space on the eastern outskirts of Rome, and on Sunday the Vatican said that number had risen to one million. Most of them spent the night in tents, sleeping bags or on mattresses in anticipation of Sunday's mass.
The pope was to lead the vigil from a massive stage with a golden arch and a towering cross dominating the vast open area - which at over 500,000 square metres was the size of about 70 football fields. Among the throngs of worshippers was New Yorker Christopher Delano, who said he was "very happy to see Pope Leo" but surprised by the crowd. "I didn't expect to see all these people. I knew there would be a lot of people - I didn't know there would be this many," he told AFP.
