Pope Leo XIV capped a week-long Catholic Jubilee of Youth on Sunday with an open-air Mass at Rome’s Tor Vergata field that the Vatican said drew more than one million pilgrims from roughly 150 countries. The vigil on 2 August and the dawn liturgy on 3 August marked the largest gathering so far in the pontiff’s three-month tenure and the headline event of the 2025 Holy Year, which is expected to bring about 32 million visitors to the Vatican. Arriving by helicopter and later touring the crowd in a popemobile, the first U.S.-born pope urged the young faithful to "spread your enthusiasm and the witness of your faith" and to become "missionaries of justice and peace." Responding to questions from participants, he warned of the "commercial logics" that can distort online relationships and insisted that "friendship can change the world." During the Mass, concelebrated by 7,000 priests and 450 bishops, Leo also lamented the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, telling the assembly, "We are with the young people of Gaza, we are with the young people of Ukraine." The celebration was marred by the sudden death of an 18-year-old Egyptian pilgrim and the hospitalisation of a Spanish youth; the pope offered prayers and condolences to their families. Despite overnight rain and daytime temperatures near 30 °C, thousands camped on the field to secure places for the liturgy, evoking memories of World Youth Day held on the same site in 2000. The Jubilee gathering showcased the early influence of Leo XIV, elected on 8 May after the death of Pope Francis. While Europe’s church attendance has slipped in recent years, the weekend’s massive turnout underscored continuing global interest in Catholicism and set a high-water mark for the Holy Year’s remaining events.