Someone hopes that Pope Leone arrives as Francesco, surprisingly, in Lisbon did. Someone else opens the umbrella to shelter from the sun while waiting. Many confess standing, others kneel on the asphalt. The longest files are those of Italians, Spanish and Portuguese. Still others pass under the “showers” furniture set up on the sides of the stations to cool off a little before leaving.
The Circus Maximus It is the confessional of the world. Thousands of young people arrive, get in line, they are sorted according to the languages in which they want to confess. It is the Penitential day, the last great appointment of the Jubilee of young people before the meeting with the Pope in Tor Vergata for the prayer vigil on Saturday evening and the final mass on Sunday morning.
The priests, about a thousand, who arrive, range from the volunteers to take place in the 200 confessionals set up in parallel and divided, precisely, by language. In total there are ten, including Indonesian, Lithuanian, Russian, Korean and Chinese. The longest files are those of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese pilgrims. For the boys, a day of penance but in reality also of celebration and pilgrimage with the many collateral events of this Jubilee Which has colored and invaded Rome, infecting it with joy and liveliness.
“Seeing so many people from all over the world who confess at the same time and in such a suggestive place fills the heart of joy and makes us understand that we are not alone”, says Elena, scout of Latina, “it is not true that we guys” snort “confession and this enthusiasm proves it”.
In the tensile structure at the entrance there are the volunteers of the Youcat Foundation who distributed ten thousand copies of the Youcat book dedicated to confession. Published for the first time in 2014, the volume was updated on the occasion of the Jubilee of young people and is available in Italian, English, French and German. The new edition contains an examination of consciousness, explanations on the meaning of the confession and some prayers to better prepare for the sacrament of penance.
