First-ever digital encounter between the faithful and the holy father takes place at Lucas Oil Stadium
By William Van de Planque | On Mission
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Pope Leo XIV connected with thousands of youth in a live digital encounter at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) on Friday, November 21, 2025.
After months of planning, five teenagers were given the opportunity to ask the holy father a question during the encounter.
As he spoke with the youth, their discussion touched on a variety of worries and struggles that Catholic youth in America face, including God’s mercy, friendships, spending too much time on technology, the voice of the youth in the Church and the future of the Catholic Church.
In his opening remarks, Pope Leo XIV greeted all those gathered at NCYC and those watching online. He talked about the Jubilee Year of Hope, noting the particular hopefulness of the youth.
“It is beautiful that this jubilee is centered on hope because we are seeing signs of hope everywhere,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV spoke about the importance of the sacraments and personal encounter with God for the youth attending NCYC.
“As I looked at your conference schedule, I was happy to see how much time is dedicated to adoration, to daily Mass, to the Sacrament of Reconciliation,” he said. “These are not simply program activities. They are real opportunities to meet Jesus.”
Katie McGrady, Catholic radio host, speaker and author, moderated the discussion between Pope Leo XIV and the selected teenagers. McGrady had the opportunity to meet the holy father at a Wednesday audience in July, during which she gifted him socks.
Before McGrady introduced the first question for Pope Leo XIV, she told him she was wearing “pope socks” and told him that she wanted to know what his starter word was for the popular online game Wordle.
Mia Smothers, from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland, was the first to approach the holy father with a question. She asked about the difficulty with voicing her mistakes and receiving God’s mercy.
Pope Leo XIV, before responding directly to Smothers, said, “I just want to say, I only wear white socks, and I use a different word for Wordle every day.”
He then turned to Smothers to answer her question. He spoke of original sin and its effects on us today.
“But there is good news,” he said. “Sin never has the final word. Whenever we ask for God’s mercy, he forgives us.”
In response to a question from Ezequiel Ponce, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California, about struggling to give his problems to the Lord and feel that he is close to him, Pope Leo XIV said, “Jesus does not just understand our struggles from a distance; he actually wants us to hand them to him because he loves us. And that kind of trust starts when we have a real relationship. We cannot give our problems to someone we barely know.”
Ponce also asked about how the youth can better communicate their struggles to others.
“In the time that I’ve spent with young people, which, through the years, has been rather significant, I’ve seen that you really carry with you authentic joys and hopes but also struggles and heavy burdens,” Pope Leo XIV said in response. “I want you to know that I pray for you.”
Pope Leo XIV went on to encourage the youth to find those around them whom they can trust and support them and to invest in authentic friendships.
“A real friend is not only someone who is fun to be with — though that is good too — but it’s someone who helps you to grow closer to Jesus, someone who encourages you to become a better person,” he said.
Chris Pantelakis from the Archdiocese of Las Vegas, Nevada, expressed to Pope Leo XIV how he struggles with excessive scrolling on his phone and asked, “How do you suggest we balance all these tools… while also making faith connections outside of technology?”
In response, Pope Leo XIV acknowledged the good that can come from the prudent use of technology and the gift of speaking with Pantelakis and other youth at NCYC, even though they were thousands of miles apart. The holy father also pointed out that smartphones have made the truths of the Catholic faith and the Bible more accessible than ever.
“But even with all of that, technology can never replace real in-person relationships,” he said. “Simple things: a hug, a handshake, a smile. All those are essential to being human.”
Pope Leo XIV mentioned the recently canonized St. Carlo Acutis and his skill with technology.
“(St. Carlo) even set time limits for himself, allowing only a certain amount of time each week for leisure on his electronic devices,” he said. “Because of this discipline, he found a healthy balance and kept his priorities clear. My friends, I encourage you to follow the example of Carlo Acutis.”
From the Diocese of Honolulu in Hawaii, Micah Alcisto asked the holy father about artificial intelligence (AI) and what he thought the youth should be cautious about when using that technology.
Pope Leo XIV talked about a recent conference in Rome focused on protecting youth in today’s digital world and how he encouraged participants to work together to create policies that would keep the youth safe from the risks that come from AI. However, he highlighted how safety is about more than just rules.
“(Safety) is about education and it’s about personal responsibility,” he said. “Filters and guidelines can help you, but they cannot make choices for you. Only you can do that.”
He also told the youth not to “ask AI to do your homework for you.”
“Remember, AI can never replace the unique gift that you are to the world,” Pope Leo XIV told Alcisto.
The last young person to ask Pope Leo XIV a question during the live digital encounter at NCYC was Elise Wing from the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa.
Wing shared her concerns for the future and how the Church will stay relevant to everyone.
“On the day I was elected pope, I said, ‘God loves us, and evil will not prevail,’” said Pope Leo XIV in response to Wing’s question. “We are all in God’s hands.”
The holy father continued to encourage the youth to trust in God and “seek first the Kingdom of God, trusting that everything else will fall into place,” he said.
For her final question, Wing asked, “How can we, as young people, make sure we are part of the conversation about the future?”
“Let me begin with something important: you are not only the future of the Church, you are the present,” Pope Leo XIV said in response. “Your voices, your ideas, your faith matter right now, and the Church needs you.”
Pope Leo XIV expressed to the youth, before the encounter closed, that they are his source of hope for the future.
“I look to you, not someone else, to help shape the Church in the years ahead,” he said. “And that is something to be excited about.”
The holy father offered his blessing to all who attended NCYC and to those watching the event online.
To continue the dialogue between the youth and the holy father, a submission box was set up in the exhibit hall at NCYC so that any of the 16,000 attendees could write a question for Pope Leo XIV to answer.
The Diocese of Green Bay and On Mission Media are doing something similar. In each upcoming issue of On Mission, the magazine of the Diocese of Green Bay, Bishop David Ricken will be answering a question submitted by the youth of the diocese through the Ask the Bishop tab on the On Mission Media website. This will be featured on the Family Activities page. Click here for more information.