Francisco closed the trip to Panama with a mass addressed to young people: "They are now of God"

The pope presided over a ceremony in front of more than 700,000 faithful. In addition, you will visit a treatment center for HIV carriers.

Pope Francis asked young people to become aware of their role as Christians and to take their lives seriously. "You, dear young people, are not the future, but God's now, He calls them and calls them, not tomorrow, but now," the Pope said.

The Sovereign Pontiff stressed that the Lord and his mission are not an "intermediary" in life, something temporary. "They are our life, today and walk!" S & # 39; he exclaimed. The Pope presided in front of hundreds of thousands of faithful the closing mbad ("sending") of the World Youth Day (WYD) which took place in Panama.

Before the hundreds of thousands of young people present (according to the sources of the organization, only those who spent the night in the second field of research of Juan Pablo in Panama), Francisco insisted that God now with Jesus "is present, he becomes face, flesh, love of mercy that does not wait for an ideal or perfect situation to manifest".

"We," he continued, "do not always believe that God can be so concrete and everyday, so close and real, let alone that he becomes so present and acts through the intermediary of Someone from neighbor, friend, parent.We do not always believe that the Lord can invite us to work and put our hands with him in his kingdom, "said Francisco.

Before returning to Rome, the pope will visit a church-run reception center where 18 people living with HIV live. According to the UNAIDS organization, 36.7 million people were living with the virus worldwide in 2016, including 21,000 in Panama.

Francisco will meet the WYD volunteers later and leave Panamanian territory around 6 pm local time.

Throughout this five-day visit, the 82-year-old pontiff recounted the ills afflicting the continent with more and more Catholics: from political corruption to the "plague" of feminicide, to the tragedy of migration. forced.

Francisco condemned the stigmatization of migrants as responsible for "social evil" and offered help from the Church to overcome "fears and doubts". In this sense, he also questioned the "culture of intimidation, harbadment and intimidation".

Venezuelans have the largest recorded migration movement in Latin America and have been victims of xenophobia outbreaks in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador.

Since 2015, 2.3 million Venezuelans (7.6% of the 30 million inhabitants) have emigrated due to the collapse of the economy and the political crisis in their country, according to the statistics of the UN.

Francisco again avoided taking a stand against the crisis in Venezuela, where the government of Nicolás Maduro faces strong pressure from the United States to leave power, while the number of countries wishing to ignore its mandate and recognize his boss increases. parliamentarian Juan Guaidó as acting leader.

Central America is also facing a major exodus. Caravans with thousands of Hondurans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Nicaraguans are trying to reach the United States, despite the anti-immigrant policies of President Donald Trump, which includes plans to build a wall on the Mexican border.

During their travels, they faced "manifestations of xenophobia and discrimination," according to the UN. Although his trip was also intended to be a parenthesis in the church's badual scandals, Francisco could not avoid the thorny file.

In a message to religious gathered in Panama, he acknowledged Saturday that the Church "was hurt by his sin," a few weeks after the crucial meeting of bishops convened by Francisco to deal with pedophile scandals and their concealment. The meeting will take place at the Vatican from 21 to 24 February.

It is expected that this meeting will lead to "concrete measures" to fight "this terrible plague," said the day before the director of the press of the Holy See, Alessandro Gisotti.

Although during this trip, he did not explicitly condemn the badual abuse that eroded the credibility of the church, Francisco characterized the acts committed by the priests as "horrible crime" during the year. a lunch with young people from five continents in a seminar.

Since the first revelations of 2000, the scandal has escalated and last year alone, the Church in Chile, the United States and Germany shook the Church. "Every country has its protocol and its regulations according to the state.We have applied the policy of zero tolerance," said Miguel Ochogavía, Panamanian Bishop of Colón.

(SourceTN)