Vatican City, Aug 6, 2017 / 05:04 am
As young people gathered in Indonesia for the 7th Asian Youth Day prepare to head home, Pope Francis sent a message encouraging them to be courageous, and to turn to Mary as a model of what it means to be a missionary.
In an Aug. 6 telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the prelate extended "warm greetings and prayerful best wishes" to all participating in the event on behalf of Pope Francis.
The Pope, he said, "prays that young people from across Asia will listen ever more attentively to God's call and respond with faith and courage to their vocation."
Looking ahead to the global World Youth Day gathering in Panama in 2019, Francis invited the youth to turn to Mary, the Mother of God as " a model of missionary discipleship, to speak to her as they would to a mother, and to trust always in her loving intercession."