This year's papal summer break is anything but free of meetings. Pope Francis continued with what has become an annual tradition: visiting the Vatican's summer camp.
In a sports field at the Vatican, the Pope first greeted the young people who are helping lead the activities and events.
Some of you were children participating here before, now you are staff and help with this. Thank you. It is a beautiful work; it is a work of growing, a work of accompanying. I thank you so much.
As he typically does when meeting with children and young people, Pope Francis dedicated time to answering their questions, including the one two asked him about how he spent his summers as a child.
Four of us would go to our grandparents' house—two to the maternal grandparents and the others to the paternal grandparents—and then we would change the other month. We used to vacation with our grandparents. It was very nice. I was blessed to have all four of them until I was 16 years old…
Another question was how young people can be peacemakers in a world full of war.
Making peace is the best, most beautiful thing in life, and we must learn to make peace at home when we quarrel with siblings or get angry. Never go to bed without making peace. Do you understand?
-Yes
We all say it together: Never go to bed without making peace.
The Pope said this is a mission for everyone from children to their parents. And to end the meeting, the 300 children released natural, biodegradable balloons with the Pope's words: “You are precious in the eyes of God.”
KG
