“Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!”. These are the very first words that Pope Francis addressed “to every young Christian” in his Apostolic Exhortation “Christus vivit” released at the end of the Synod dedicated to youth. “Christ is alive!”, the Pope wrote in the introduction. “He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world. Everything he touches becomes young, becomes new, is filled with life. He is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you. However far you may wander, he is always there, the Risen One. He calls you and he waits for you to return to him and start over again”. “When you feel you are growing old out of sorrow, resentment or fear, doubt or failure, he will always be there to restore your strength and your hope”, Pope Francis assured, describing his Apostolic Exhortation as a letter which is “meant to remind you of certain convictions born of our faith, and at the same time to encourage you to grow in holiness and in commitment to your personal vocation”.

As “part of a synodal process”, the Pope also addressed his message to “the entire People of God, pastors and faithful alike, since all of us are challenged and urged to reflect both on the young and for the young”. “Consequently, I will speak to young people directly in some places, while in others I will propose some more general considerations for the Church’s discernment”, the Holy Father said, explaining the structure of the new 183-page document divided into nine chapters. “I have let myself be inspired by the wealth of reflections and conversations that emerged from last year’s Synod”, Pope Francis revealed. “I cannot include all those contributions here, but you can read them in the Final Document. In writing this letter, though, I have attempted to summarize those proposals I considered most significant. In this way, my words will echo the myriad voices of believers the world over who made their opinions known to the Synod. Those young people who are not believers, yet wished to share their thoughts, also raised issues that led me to ask new questions”. “Dear young people, my joyful hope is to see you keep running the race before you, outstripping all those who are slow or fearful”, the Pope wrote in the conclusion of the Exhortation: “Keep running, attracted by the face of Christ, whom we love so much, whom we adore in the Holy Eucharist and acknowledge in the flesh of our suffering brothers and sisters. May the Holy Spirit urge you on as you run this race. The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith. We need them! And when you arrive where we have not yet reached, have the patience to wait for us”.