"Dear young people: Boa tarde!

Bem-vindos! Welcome and thank you for being here, I am happy to see you! I am happy to hear the nice commotion you are making and to be able to be infected by your joy. It is beautiful to be together in Lisbon; you were called by me, by the Patriarch - whom I thank for his words - by your bishops, priests, catechists, animators. Let us thank all those who called you and all those who worked to make this meeting possible, and we do so with a round of applause! But, above all, it was Jesus who called you, so let's thank Jesus with another round of applause!

You are not here by chance. The Lord has called you, not only now, but since the beginning of your lives. He has called us all since the beginning of our lives. He called us by our names. We hear the word of God calling us by name. Try to imagine these words written in large letters; and then think of them written inside each one of you, in your hearts, as if it was the title of your life, the meaning of who you are: you have been called by name: you, you, you, you, you, all of us here, me, we were all called by name. We were not called automatically. We were called by name. Let's think about this: Jesus called me by name. These are words written in the heart. Then let's think that they are written inside each one of us, in our hearts and they form the title of your life. The meaning of who we are, the meaning of who you are. You have been called by name, you have been called by name, you have been called by name. None of us are Christians by chance. We were all called by name. At the beginning of our lives, before the talents we have, before the darkness and the wounds we carry within us, we have been called. Why have we been called? Because we are loved. We have been called because we are loved. This is beautiful. In God's eyes we are precious children, whom He calls every day to embrace and encourage; to make each one of us a unique, original masterpiece. Each one of us is unique and original and we can’t even glimpse at this beauty.

Dear young people, on this World Youth Day, let us help one another to recognise this reality; let these days be vibrant echoes of that loving calling of God, for we are precious in God's eyes, despite what our eyes sometimes see. Sometimes our eyes are clouded by negativity and dazzled by so many distractions. May these be days when my name, your name, your name through brothers and sisters of so many languages, so many nations, we see so many banners, which they utter amicably, resound as unique news in history, because unique is God's heartbeat for you. May these be days in which we engrave in our hearts that we are loved as we are and not as we would like to be. As we are now. And this is the starting point of WYD, but above all the starting point of our lives. Boys and girls, we are loved as we are, without make-up. Do you understand this?

Each one of us is called by name: it is not a figure of speech, it is the Word of God (cf. Is 43:1; 2 Tim 1:9). Friends, if God calls you by name, it means that for God none of us is a number, but a face and a heart. I would like you to see one thing in everyone: many people today know your name, but they do not call you by name. In fact, your name is known, it appears on social networks, it is elaborated by algorithms that associate it with trends and preferences. But none of this happens because of your uniqueness, but because of your usefulness for market research. How many wolves hide behind smiles of false kindness, saying they know who they are, but they don't actually love you; they insinuate that they believe in you and promise you that you will become someone in life, only to leave you alone when they are no longer interested in you. These are the illusions of the virtual world and we must be careful not to let ourselves be deceived, because many realities that are attractive to us nowadays promise happiness to us, only for them to show themselves for what they are afterwards: vain things, floating bubbles, superfluous things, things that are useless and that leave us empty inside. I tell you one thing: Jesus is not like that. He trusts you, He trusts each one of you, each one of us, because for Jesus, each one of us matters to Him, each one of you matters to Him, and that is Jesus.

And that's why we, his Church, are the community of those who are called; we are not the community of the best, no. We are all sinners, but we are called. We are all sinners, but we are called, just as we are. Let's think about this a little bit in our hearts. We are called as we are, with the problems we have, with the limitations we have, with our overflowing joy, with our desire to be better, with our desire to succeed. We are called as we are. Think about this: Jesus calls me as I am, not as I would like to be.

We are a community of brothers and sisters of Jesus, sons and daughters of the same Father. Friends, I would like to be clear with you who are allergic to falsehood and empty words: in the Church there is room for everyone, for everyone. In the Church no one is surplus, no one is surplus, there is room for everyone. Just as we are. All of us. And Jesus says this clearly when he sends the apostles to call us to the banquet of the Lord, who prepared it. He says: go and take everyone: young and old, healthy and sick, righteous and sinners. All of them. All. Everyone. In the Church there is room for everyone. Father, but today I am a wretch. Is there room for me? There is room for everyone. Everyone together, each one in his own language... each one in his own language. Repeat after me: everyone! Everyone! Everyone! I can't hear you. Again: everyone! Everyone! Everyone! And that is the Church, the mother of all. There is room for everyone. The Lord does not point his finger, but opens his arms; it is curious, but the Lord does not know how to do this, but he does that. He embraces us all. He shows us Jesus on the cross, who opened his arms so wide to be crucified and die for us. He never closes the door, never, but invites you in. Come in and see, Jesus receives, Jesus welcomes. During these days, each one of us transmits Jesus' language of love. God loves you; God calls you. How beautiful this is. God loves me, God calls me. He wants me to be close to him.

This evening you have also asked me questions. Many questions. Asking questions is good. Indeed, it is often better than giving answers, because those who ask questions remain "restless" and restlessness is the best remedy for routine, sometimes a kind of normality that numbs the soul. Each one of us has their own questions inside themselves. Let’s be the ones that question ourselves. Let’s have this common dialogue with ourselves. We see it when we pray before God and questions come up, which in the course of life become answers. We only have to wait for them. This is a very interesting thing. God loves us by surprise. It is not programmed. God's love is a surprise. It always surprises us. He always keeps us on our toes. He surprises us.

Dear boys and girls, I invite you to think about this beautiful thing, that God loves us. God loves us as we are, not as we would like to be or as society would like us to be. As we are. He loves us with the defects we have, with the limitations we have and with the desire we have to move forward in life. God loves us this way. Trust, because God is a father. And a father who loves us. A father who loves us. This is not very easy. And for this we have the great help of the Mother of the Lord. She is our mother too. She is our mother.

That's all I wanted to say. Do not be afraid. Have courage, go forward, knowing that we are bound by the love that God has for us. God loves us, let’s say it all together: God loves us! Louder! I can't hear you (pilgrims: God loves us). I can't hear you (God loves us).

Thank you. Farewell."

Pope Francis