Pope Leo urges youth to seek ‘true peace’ and ‘perfect joy’
Pope Leo XIV addressed thousands of teens at the 50th anniversary of the Steubenville Youth Conferences, urging them to seek true peace and perfect joy through a deeper relationship with God. He drew on St. Francis of Assisi’s teachings, emphasizing that genuine peace comes from Christ and that lasting joy is found in faith and love for God, not in material or social media pleasures. The Pope encouraged participants to practice silence, prayer, and the sacraments, and to consider their vocation—whether marriage, priesthood, religious life, or missionary work—without fear. The message was delivered in St. Peter’s Square and was specifically tailored to the conference held in Steubenville, Ohio, with over 43,000 teens expected to attend across North America.
3 months ago
Pope Leo XIV addressed thousands of young Catholics at the 50th Steubenville Summer Youth Conference, urging them to pursue “true peace” and “perfect joy” through a deeper relationship with God, drawing on the example of St Francis of Assisi. 1 2 3
The annual conference, organized by Franciscan University of Steubenville, marked its 50th year and attracted more than 43,000 teenagers across the United States and regional sites. 1
Leo XIV highlighted St Francis’ greeting “peace and all good,” describing true peace as a divine gift that flows from a personal relationship with Christ. He invited participants to seek moments of silence and prayer during the event to experience this peace and become instruments of it in families, communities, and the wider world. 2
The Pope explained that perfect joy is not found in material success, fame, social media, or other superficial comforts. Citing a story of St Francis and Brother Leo, he emphasized that joy arises when one embraces suffering, cold, hunger, and rejection with patience, love, and trust in God. Only the love of God can provide lasting, perfect joy. 1 3
Leo XIV warned against seeking happiness through electronic devices, drug use, alcohol, promiscuity, or any damaging behavior. He urged young people to devote time to prayer, the sacraments, authentic friendships, family life, study, and sport instead of endless scrolling. 2
The Pope concluded by inviting participants to discern God’s call—whether to marriage, priesthood, religious life, or missionary service. He encouraged them not to fear responding to the Lord’s invitation and to share their discernment with trusted friends, priests, or religious sisters. 3
Repeatedly, Leo XIV reminded the youth that they are precious and unconditionally loved by God. He affirmed that a firm conviction of God’s paternal care enables believers to face challenges with confidence and joy. 2
Youth must pursue authentic peace and joy through God alone
Youth are not called to a superficial “calm” or passing happiness, but to authentic peace and joy—a peace that is ordered, just, and charitable, and a joy that grows from encountering God in Christ. The Church’s teaching makes clear that peace is not merely the absence of conflict, and that joy meant for the human heart ultimately points beyond the temporary.
The Catechism defines peace in a way that corrects a common misunderstanding: peace is not only “absence of war”, and it is not reducible to keeping adversaries in a balance of power.
Instead, peace depends on concrete moral realities in human life: safeguarding the goods of persons, free communication, respect for human dignity, and the practice of fraternity.
In the Catechism’s classical phrasing, peace is “the tranquillity of order”—a stability that arises when persons and communities live rightly.
That already clarifies what “authentic” means: real peace is an effect of charity and work of justice, not just a mood or political arrangement.
The Catechism goes further: earthly peace is the fruit and image of Christ’s peace, the Messiah called the “Prince of Peace.”
By the blood of the Cross, Christ “killed the hostility,” reconciling people with God; and He makes the Church a sign of unity—human unity and union with God.
So the Church’s logic is not “God gives rules so peace becomes possible,” but rather: peace is rooted in reconciliation with God, accomplished definitively in the Cross.
This also connects with Gaudium et Spes: peace is an “enterprise of justice,” grounded in the order structured by God and “actualized” by people thirsting for greater justice.
And peace “must be built up ceaselessly,” because human will is wounded by sin and needs constant vigilance and mastery of passions.
The statement “through God alone” is not only about external peace; it also concerns the interior joy youth seek. The Catechism links Christian joy to the beatitudes and to catechesis that reveals “the joy and the demands of the way of Christ.”
In this vision, the way of Christ is “summed up in the beatitudes,” and these are described as “the only path that leads to the eternal beatitude for which the human heart longs.”
So authentic joy is not merely pleasurable feeling; it is tied to the beatitude for which the heart is made.
Pope Leo XIV’s youth-focused preaching reinforces that youth joy is awakened by the living encounter with the risen Christ. In his Jubilee of Youth homily, he describes the disciples on the road to Emmaus: they begin frightened and disappointed, but later “recognized him,” and “the joyful news of Easter found a place in their hearts.”
He also warns against “cheap imitations” that try to satisfy the heart’s thirst, urging young people to turn their thirst into a step toward encountering God—God who waits, knocks, and invites entry into the “adventure… towards eternity.”
A key Catholic emphasis is that peace and joy are not merely private spirituality; they are formed and expressed in life.
Pope Leo XIV’s message for the 40th World Youth Day treats peace as something that arises from friendship with Christ and takes the shape of fraternity.
He teaches that the Holy Spirit helps people “see our neighbor with new eyes,” so indifference and suspicion are overcome, and youth become “active artisans of peace.”
In the Jubilee Vigil dialogue, the Pope describes Jesus as the friend who accompanies the formation of conscience, and then ties that to action: “seek justice… build a more humane world,” “serve the poor,” and be united with Christ in the Eucharist and in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
The Church also links peace to interior freedom. The Catechism teaches that chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery, because either a person governs passions and “finds peace,” or one lets passions dominate and becomes unhappy.
That matters for “youth” specifically: youth often sense (and sometimes fear) instability—yet the Church presents peace as compatible with growth, discipline, and genuine freedom.
The Catechism adds a motivational urgency: remembering mortality helps youth realize they have limited time to bring life to fulfillment, quoting Ecclesiastes: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth.”
This is another way of affirming “through God alone”: the heart’s deepest fulfillment is not postponed until life becomes stable; it begins by turning to God while youth still wrestle with choices and direction.
Taken strictly, “through God alone” can be misunderstood as if the Christian life excludes real human responsibility. Catholic teaching avoids both extremes:
So “through God alone” is best understood as: God is the source and guarantor of peace’s deepest meaning and the joy that answers the heart’s longing, while the person truly cooperates through justice, charity, conscience, fraternity, self-mastery, and perseverance.
Youth are called to pursue authentic peace and joy because the Church teaches that peace is “tranquillity of order,” grounded in justice and charity, and ultimately fulfilled in Christ the Prince of Peace.
Joy, likewise, is not a passing emotion but the beatitudes’ path to eternal beatitude—life renewed by encounter with the risen Lord, formed by conscience, expressed in fraternity, and sustained in Eucharistic union.