Pope Leo XIV will participate in a live digital conversation with American teenagers at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) on November 21st. This marks the first time a pope will directly engage with U.S. youth in a live digital encounter at NCYC. The event will be streamed live on EWTN platforms, allowing viewers to watch from various locations. The NCYC 2025, held in Indianapolis, will feature prayer, community, evangelization, and service among Catholic teenagers from November 20–22.
24 days ago
Pope Leo XIV is set to participate in a historic live digital encounter with young U.S. Catholics at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) 2025 in Indianapolis.2 3 4
This marks the first time a pope has directly engaged U.S. youth in such a format during NCYC, emphasizing connection in an interconnected world.2 3
The conference runs from November 20–22, drawing around 16,000 Catholic teenagers for prayer, evangelization, and service.4 5
NCYC 2025, hosted by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, takes place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.2 3 4
The theme is “I Am,” focusing on encountering Christ and empowering discipleship.4
Activities include daily Mass, adoration, music, workshops, breakout sessions, and interactive exhibits with vendors and live radio.4
The opening session on November 20 featured young people gathering for worship and community building.4
The encounter is scheduled for November 21 at 10:15 a.m. ET, lasting about 45 minutes, with the pope delivering opening remarks and engaging in a Q&A from the Vatican.2 3 4 5
It involves dialogue with high school students, highlighting the pope's desire to connect with youth as the "now of God."4
Attendees at the stadium will view it live, while global viewers can join remotely.2 3
More than 40 teens contributed to planning the dialogue, with five selected to speak directly to the pope.2 3 4
The speakers are Mia Smothers (Maryland), Elise Wing, Christopher Pantelakis, Micah Alcisto, and Ezequiel Ponce.4
Smothers described it as an "opportunity of a lifetime," expressing excitement in an EWTN interview.4
This process underscores youth agency in shaping the conversation.2 3
Bishops at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Fall Plenary emphasized the event's role in making the Church feel closer to young people.4
Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez noted teens' desire to be seen, heard, and valued, calling the encounter a reflection of papal closeness.4
Organizers, including Cardinal Christophe Pierre and Christina Lamas, highlighted its deep significance for faith formation.4
The event builds on NCYC's mission to strengthen pastoral ministry for youth.4
The encounter streams live on EWTN's YouTube channel starting at 8:45 a.m. ET, also available via the EWTN app or cable.2 3 4 5
Live updates are provided by outlets like Catholic News Agency, including photos of youth gatherings and session highlights.4 5
For broader NCYC coverage, resources include CNA's dedicated page and EWTN broadcasts of general sessions.4
Assess the papal use of digital media for youth evangelization
The Catholic Church, under successive popes, has increasingly viewed digital media not merely as a tool but as a vital arena for encountering and evangelizing young people, recognizing its profound influence on their daily lives, relationships, and faith formation. From Pope Benedict XVI's call to evangelize the "digital continent" to Pope Francis's emphasis on social networks as spaces for dialogue and Pope Leo XIV's warnings about illusory connections, papal teachings assess digital media as an opportunity for hope-filled witness while cautioning against its risks like isolation and manipulation. This assessment reveals a strategic, balanced approach that empowers youth as active protagonists in digital mission, drawing on their native affinity for technology to proclaim the Gospel.
Papal engagement with digital media for youth evangelization has developed progressively, adapting to technological shifts while rooted in the Church's missionary mandate. Pope Benedict XVI laid foundational groundwork in his 2009 Message for World Communications Day, urging young Catholics to bring faith into the "new environment of communications and information technology." He highlighted youth's "almost spontaneous affinity" for these media, tasking them with evangelizing this "digital continent" by sharing the Good News amid fears, hopes, and aspirations of their peers. This vision positioned digital spaces as analogous to ancient mission fields, requiring cultural immersion to touch hearts effectively.
Building on this, Pope Francis integrated digital evangelization into his outreach to youth, particularly in the post-synodal exhortation Christus Vivit (2019). He described the web and social networks as a "public square" where young people spend much time, offering "extraordinary opportunity for dialogue, encounter and exchange" and access to information, while also enabling social and political engagement. Francis encouraged youth to use social media creatively for evangelization—through events, videos, songs, and messages—sowing seeds of faith in fertile hearts during retreats, casual conversations, or online interactions. He further exhorted them to "fill [social networks] with God, fraternity and commitment," transforming passive consumption into active mission. This approach reflects a synodal spirit, where youth are not just recipients but innovators in digital proclamation.
Pope Leo XIV, elected in 2025, continues this trajectory with a pastoral tone attuned to contemporary challenges, as seen in his dialogues and messages during the Jubilee Year of Hope. In his address to young people at Tor Vergata, he acknowledged social media's role in shaping culture but critiqued how algorithms and commercialism foster "fleeting and often illusory" relationships, leading to loneliness despite connectivity. Echoing Francis, Leo XIV quotes Christus Vivit to affirm digital tools' potential for encounter while warning against addiction to consumerism. His video message to youth in Košice and message for the 40th World Youth Day emphasize witnessing Christ's friendship online and offline, urging youth to be "builders of bridges" in divided digital spaces. Additionally, in his greeting to students during the Jubilee of Education, Leo XIV praises digital natives for humanizing technology, citing Saint Carlo Acutis as a model who used the internet "skillfully for good" without enslavement. Overall, Leo XIV's teachings assess digital media as a double-edged sword: a platform for hope if oriented toward genuine communion, but a risk if it fragments human bonds.
Papal strategies emphasize accompaniment, formation, and creative use of digital tools to reach youth where they are. The Dicastery for Communication's 2023 document Towards Full Presence provides a comprehensive framework, assessing social media as an irreversible part of youth identity and calling the Church to co-create these spaces as "loving neighbours" on "digital highways." It stresses rediscovering human encounter amid AI influences, with youth leading through faithful, creative engagement—such as local initiatives, witness-sharing, and educational programs—that often outpace institutional efforts. This aligns with the Synod on Synodality's Final Document (2024), which notes digital culture's reshaping of youth's space, time, and faith, urging resources for prophetic mission online to counter loneliness, polarization, and manipulation by economic interests. Local Churches are called to sustain digital missionaries, fostering synodal communities that promote dialogue and belonging.
Concrete papal initiatives illustrate this assessment. Popes have leveraged video messages and online platforms for direct youth outreach: Benedict and Francis used World Communications Day messages to guide digital ethics, while Leo XIV's video to Košice youth and World Mission Day address encourage sharing joy via digital means, transforming communities through prayer and support. The World Youth Day (WYD) framework, under Leo XIV's message for the 40th WYD, prepares youth as "pilgrims of hope" for events like Seoul 2027, implicitly using digital dissemination to build global fraternity. The biography of Blessed (now Saint) Carlo Acutis exemplifies success: a young digital pioneer who created websites on Eucharistic miracles, using social communication to evangelize without compromising dignity, as praised in Christus Vivit and Leo XIV's addresses. These strategies assess digital media positively when it amplifies the Gospel's reach, enabling youth to organize virtual encounters that awaken faith.
While affirming digital media's potential, papal assessments candidly address pitfalls, particularly for vulnerable youth. Francis warns of unequal access and the risk of digital worlds becoming echo chambers that isolate rather than unite. Leo XIV elaborates on how social media, controlled by algorithms, confuses relationships, turning users into "commodities" and fostering anxiety over authentic bonds. The Synod document highlights exploitation for ideological polarization, noting the Church's underpreparedness and the paradox of hyper-connectivity breeding marginalization. Towards Full Presence echoes this, calling for guidance to ensure digital engagement enhances, not detracts from, human relationships—especially as AI blurs interlocutors.
In response, popes advocate discernment: youth must "humanize the digital," using it for fraternity rather than escape, as Leo XIV urges students to be "prophets" instead of "tourists" online. Formation in emotional and spiritual intelligence is key, ensuring technology serves human dignity. This cautious optimism assesses digital evangelization as effective only with ethical safeguards, preventing it from becoming a "cage" of addiction.
Papal use of digital media for youth evangelization is remarkably effective in its holistic approach, blending encouragement with caution to foster authentic witness. By empowering youth as digital heralds—drawing on models like Acutis and initiatives like WYD—popes have mobilized a generation to proclaim hope amid cultural flux, as evidenced by vibrant online faith communities and synodal reflections. The evolution from Benedict's foundational call to Leo XIV's Jubilee-era applications demonstrates adaptability, with documents like Towards Full Presence providing practical theology for ongoing mission. Challenges persist, particularly in addressing digital divides and ethical AI use, but the Church's emphasis on encounter ensures fidelity to Christ's relational Gospel.
In conclusion, this papal strategy not only assesses digital media as indispensable for youth evangelization but positions the Church as a hopeful pilgrim in the digital age, inviting all to build bridges of faith. As Leo XIV reminds us, true evangelization transforms tools into testimonies of Christ's friendship, renewing the Church's youthful face for generations to come.