Pope Francis was welcomed with loud applause from 4,000 pilgrims attending the first General Audience of 2024.
During his greeting to the faithful, he addressed the teenagers of an Italian diocese. He asked them to spread peace and joy among their friends and he made sure of this with humor.
POPE FRANCIS
Did you understand correctly? You have not understood anything.
Pope Francis dedicated this catechesis to the sacrament of confession. He said that the Christian who considers himself infallible is "living in darkness" because he does not recognize that the struggle against temptation is constant in life.
POPE FRANCIS
In fact, the Christian's spiritual life is not a peaceful, no, linear, unchallenging thing but, on the contrary, it demands continuous combat.
We are all tempted, we are all tempted, and we have to fight not to fall into these temptations. If any of you have not been tempted, let him say so, because it would be something extraordinary.
Pope Francis ended his audience by praying for the countries in conflict, especially for the persecuted Rohingya ethnic group, whom he called “brothers.”
PA
