Below is the text of the message that Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin sent, on behalf of Pope Leo XIV, on the occasion of the 48th European Meeting of Young People organized by the Taizé Community in Paris (December 28, 2025 – January 1, 2026) to the approximately 15,000 participants, aged 18 to 35, who, invited by European Churches of various denominations, will gather to pray and share in a spirit of celebration and friendship. He also sent them his greetings, assuring them of his spiritual closeness.

Leo XIV expressed his wish that the moments of prayer and sharing would help them to deepen their faith and discern how to live the Gospel in concrete reality.

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Message

Dear young people, On the occasion of the European Meeting organized by the Taizé Community, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has asked me to convey his warm greetings and the assurance of his spiritual closeness to you. Your gathering marks a new stage in the “Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth” that Brother Roger began almost half a century ago in this very city of Paris. The Holy Father is pleased to know you are gathered in a city marked by a rich religious heritage, forged over the centuries by the shining witness of so many holy figures who, each in their own way, responded boldly to Christ’s call.

The theme of this year’s Letter, written by Brother Matthew, Prior of Taizé, “What are you looking for?”, is linked to an essential question that dwells in the heart of every human being. The Holy Father invites you not to fear this question, but to carry it with you in prayer and silence, convinced that Christ walks beside you and allows himself to be found by those who seek him with a sincere heart.

At the end of this year, marked by so many trials for our human family, the generous hospitality you are receiving in Paris from believers from all walks of life and people of goodwill is a powerful message to the world. May the moments of prayer and fellowship you will experience these days help you deepen your faith, discerning ever more how to live the Gospel in the concrete realities of your lives.

This meeting also takes place at a particular ecclesial moment, marked by the close of a Jubilee Year and the commemorations of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. As Pope Leo XIV recently recalled during the ecumenical prayer meeting in Iznik, “Reconciliation is today a call that comes from all humanity afflicted by conflict and violence. The desire for full communion among all believers in Jesus Christ is always accompanied by the search for fraternity among all human beings.” The Holy Father encourages you to become pilgrims of trust, builders of peace and reconciliation, capable of bringing a humble and joyful hope to those around you. Entrusting you, together with the Taizé Community and its ecumenical mission, to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, he wholeheartedly bestows upon you his Apostolic Blessing.