Pope to young people of the Synod: 'Keep moving forward'

By Kielce Gussie

With the Synod on Synodality in its final days in the Vatican, Pope Francis sent a video message on Wednesday to the young people participating in the 16th Ordinary General Assembly.

In the video, the Pope compares young people to water. “When water flows, it’s good,” he said, “but when water stops, it ends badly.”

Just as stagnant water gets contaminated with “little creatures,” Pope Francis warned, “the young person who is tired is the first to be corrupted.”

To avoid this, he stressed the need to keep moving forward and to continue walking with courage and joy.

Young people in the Synod

368 people can vote in the Synod on Synodality and they come from a wide range of backgrounds—from cardinals and theologians to professors and college students.

Of them, 272 are bishops and 96 are non-bishops. A number are lay Catholics, with two of the youngest participants being in their early 20s.