Organizers highlight unique digital encounter between Pope Leo XIV and American youth

BALTIMORE (OSV News) -- Pope Leo XIV is eager and excited to enter into a dialogue with young people in America in a unique digital encounter, according to those facilitating the Nov. 21 event taking place at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis.

On Nov. 12, the upcoming encounter was highlighted during the U.S. bishops' fall plenary assembly by Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez of Philadelphia alongside others involved in organizing the event. Archbishop Pérez told reporters that the encounter "reflects the Holy Father's desire to connect with young people" and it "represents a virtual visit of the Holy Father to them."

"The Holy Father's choice to encounter the American youth, as he will do next week, is an expression of his closeness to the youth of the world," he added. "This historic moment will mark a powerful opportunity for young people to witness the beauty of the universal church with our Holy Father."

During the gathering, the pope will address an expected crowd of about 15,000 young people ages 14-18. He will engage in a 45-minute dialogue with the attendees at Lucas Oil Stadium, marking the first time in history a pope has been a part of a digital encounter with American young people.

In response to a question from The Pillar regarding the degree to which the event will be an organic encounter between the young people and the pope, Archbishop Pérez noted that "the questions were discerned and then sent by the young people, and then sent to the Holy Father directly."

"He will choose (from) those questions and maybe modify them," the archbishop said, but "they came from a dialogue and a certain process with the young people."

Montse Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, which is the event's exclusive multicast provider, emphasized the importance of "an authentic experience" for Pope Leo and the young people "so that the Holy Father can see the young person asking him the question, and the young people can see the Holy Father in this kind of a reaction."

NCYC is hosted by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. The Washington-based NFCYM, launched in 1981 with the support of the U.S. bishops, fosters collaboration among the country's Catholic youth ministry leaders. Archbishop Pérez serves as an episcopal adviser and board member for the NFCYM.

Christina Lamas, the federation's executive director, said the moment "shows that the church is listening, not just speaking. This encounter is not a media event, it's a synodal moment where one universal church walks with a young church in the United States."

In response to a question from OSV News about the event's unique virtual Q&A format, Kenneth Gavin, chief communications officer for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said the event is "not virtual."

Rather, Gavin said, "it is a real-time digital encounter because I think when we use the word virtual, we lose authenticity." He added that the Holy Father is "meeting young people in a space where they spend a lot of time as digital natives, but it's not virtual, it's an encounter."

In response to an OSV News question about how the idea for the format of the event came about, Christina Lamas referenced that Pope Francis had previously sent a letter to NCYC and a video message.

"This time around," she said, "young people are digital natives. They are online, they're on social media. And so to have our Holy Father come to them in the same space in which they are, that is very meaningful. And we talk about authenticity and we talk about in terms of being able to have that relationship, how do you convert something digital to something personal? So that idea of being able to bring our Holy Father and the young people together in a space where that could happen, that was part of the dream."

Alvarado told OSV News that in the Sept. 6 meeting in which she and Archbishop Pérez discussed the encounter, Pope Leo "was wonderful and really encouraging." She said it was clear that the pope "wanted to spend time" with the American youth and it was "a priority for him."