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Archbishop Nelson J. P\u00e9rez looks out at the crowd during the 2023 National Catholic Youth Conference, where thousands of young Catholics gathered in worship and fellowship.<\/p>\n
The pope is expected to address the young people at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis live from Rome. He will offer a personal message of hope then answer questions in real time from several young people.<\/p>\n
The papal live video event, which Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. P\u00e9rez helped facilitate and will co-host in Indianapolis, is the first of its kind for the annual National Catholic Youth Conference.<\/p>\n
Archbishop P\u00e9rez has said that through the live digital encounter<\/a>, the pontiff \u201cwill do something for the young people of our country that has never been done on such a grand scale by any previous pope.\u201d<\/p>\n Marisally Santiago, the director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia\u2019s Office of Ministry with Youth, calls the encounter an extra big slice of cake atop what already promises to be a soul-feeding Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n \u201cThe NCYC alone, then having this experience within it, I think it\u2019s going to be just beyond a blast,\u201d said Santiago.<\/p>\n The experience of 15,000 youths \u201clistening to the pope, engaging with the pope, having peers engage in the questions that they\u2019re also having with Pope Leo \u2014 none of this is scripted. He insisted that this is literally a raw conversation with young people that he\u2019s going to be having.\u201d<\/p>\n Santiago says that initially, Archbishop P\u00e9rez suggested a 15-minute conversation for the event, but Pope Leo said that wasn\u2019t long enough. He wanted 45 minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really shows the Holy Father wants to engage with young people,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cIt really shows that he has a heart for young people. He wants to be there for them. He wants them to know that they have an advocate.\u201d<\/p>\n Once the encounter was set, Archbishop P\u00e9rez\u2019s next step was to get Philadelphia\u2019s Catholic schools on board to watch virtually.<\/p>\n \u201c(The archbishop) came to us and said, \u2018How cool would it be if the schools could get together in a pep rally-type format in the auditorium, or schools that have large spaces for gathering could all watch this together and have their own little coming together in their own spaces?,\u2019\u201d according to Steve Clement, the chief administrative officer for secondary schools of the archdiocese. \u201cHe asked us if it was possible, and (we said), \u2018Yeah, for sure. \u201cIt might surprise you,\u201d Clement joked, \u201cbut young people are always OK with some time out of class, pausing the curriculum side of things.\u201d<\/p>\n Clement said the chance to view Friday\u2019s live conversation echoes the afternoon last May 8 \u00a0when in similar fashion students of Archbishop Ryan High School in Northeast Philadelphia gathered around video screens to watch then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, a 1977 graduate of Villanova University, be elected pope by the College of Cardinals<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were all together watching him. Our team happened to be at Archbishop Ryan that day for an official school visit to see (the election) through the eyes of students. That was amazing,\u201d Clement said.<\/p>\n While the seniors present last spring have graduated, the other three classes will hear \u201cthe first American Pope speak to young people in the same setting that three-quarters of them were in when he was elected,\u201d Clement said, which he called \u201ctremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n Fifteen archdiocesan high schools in five counties will host \u201cPope Rallies<\/a>\u201d Friday morning: Archbishop Ryan, Archbishop Wood, Bishop Shanahan, Cardinal O\u2019Hara, Little Flower and Pope John Paul II.<\/p>\n
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