The Holy Father was greeted Aug. 2 by joyous crowds on the 237-acre grounds of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, 10 miles east of Rome, where teenagers and young adults will stay all night in anticipation of the closing Mass of the Jubilee of Youth on Sunday morning.

Hundreds of thousands of young Catholics poured into a vast field on Rome’s outskirts Saturday for the weekend highlight of the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year: an evening vigil, outdoor slumber party and morning Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV that marks his first big encounter with the next generation of Catholics.

Pope Leo celebrated the largest event yet of his nearly three-month tenure on Sunday, encouraging a crowd of more than a million Catholic young people gathered in a field on the outskirts of Rome to spread their faith.