Rome (Italy). From 24 to 27 April 2025, a group of girls from Main’s Oratory in Malta of Our Lady of Good Counsel Province (IMR), with two Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and two educators, reached Rome for the first time to participate in the Jubilee of Adolescents.
Each of them held a small diary, to document the most exciting moments of the pilgrimage, simple and authentic feelings, full of the wonder of living the faith together.
During the days, in addition to knowing the main monuments, churches, and symbolic places of the “eternal city”, the girls had the opportunity to cross as “pilgrims of hope” the Holy Doors and to know and deepen the Salesian charismatic places, as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart built by Don Bosco.
Among the large crowd of faithful and many other peers gathered for the Jubilee of the Adolescents, on 26 April they were also able to give the last greeting to Pope Francis, who only two years earlier, in his 36th apostolic journey, they had welcomed him with joy to the island of Malta.
Here is what Laura, a girl from the group, wrote in her diary about what she experienced that day in front of the maxi screens near Castel Sant’Angelo:
“This morning, we woke up a little earlier than usual and headed directly to Castel Sant’Angelo, where we joined thousands of other pilgrims and Catholics from all over the world for the funeral Mass of Pope Francis. We were fortunate to be among those who saw him one last time in the Vatican, just before his coffin was closed.
His funeral was a deeply touching moment; silent but powerful and unlike anything we had ever experienced. Around us, people stood in silence, some even in tears, others in prayer. Although many of us had never met before, there was a strong sense of community. The atmosphere did not seem sad, but rather ‘bittersweet’ and strangely comforting. Pope Francis said, ‘Let us build bridges, not walls’. In our eyes, he truly lived by those words. He opened the doors to so many people, inside and outside the church, and helped make Catholicism more human, more welcoming. His presence will be felt for a long time.”
Before returning on 27 April, the group also made a short stop at the General House of the FMA Institute to visit the Charism Exhibition and… take a picture with Mother Mazzarello!
“On our way back to Malta, we realized that the real Jubilee had just begun. The emotions we experienced in Rome were strong, but what really matters now is how we live the teachings and experiences we shared. It’s not just about what we experienced there, but to take that spirit with us and let it shape our lives and those of others in the future,” Laura writes in her diary.
The words of Card. Pietro Parolin in the homily of the Eucharistic Celebration of the Jubilee of the Adolescents, on 27 April in St Peter’s Square, remain for the boys and girls, arrived in Rome at this very special moment, a wish and an encouragement:
“I address a special greeting to you, with the desire to make you feel the embrace of the Church and the affection of Pope Francis, who would have liked to meet you, look into your eyes, pass among you to greet you.
In front of the many challenges you are called to face – I remember, for example, that of technology and artificial intelligence that characterize our time in a particular way – never forget to nourish your life with the true hope that has the face of Jesus Christ. Nothing will be too great or too demanding with Him! With Him, you will never be alone nor abandoned to yourself, even in the worst moments!
He comes to meet you where you are, to give you the courage to live, to share your experiences, your thoughts, your gifts, your dreams; to see in the face of those who are near or far a brother and a sister to love, to whom you have so much to give and so much to receive. He will help you be generous, faithful, and responsible in the life that awaits you, and He will help you understand what is most valuable in life: the love that understands everything and hopes for everything (cf. 1Cor 13:7)”.
