Expanded for the first time into a two-day festival, and also for the first time on the grounds of Mariënkroon Abbey, west of Den Bosch, the annual Dutch Catholic Youth Day was treated today to a personal message from Pope Francis. Dated to 25 June, the message uses the three-bullet point format that Pope Francis also often employs in his homilies. The three keywords, however, came directly from the festival’s theme: New, Pure and Intense.
The Holy Father recalls the topics he announced in his first Message for World Youth Day: the Beatitudes. It is, he writes, “a concrete programme of life that can serve as a guide on the path to true happiness.” Latching on the theme, Pope Francis claims that “the message of Jesus’ Beatitudes is new,” invites us to contemplate Jesus’ purity of heart, and reminds us that “young people want to live intense experiences!” These three point the way that Jesus “himself has taken,” that He is.
I have also made a Dutch translation of the message.
