Pope Leo XIV urged hundreds of thousands of young people on Saturday to have the courage to make radical choices to do good, as he presided over his first big encounter with the next generation of Catholics during the highlight of the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year.

Young people from more than 146 countries, some wearing colourful bandanas to ward off the hot summer sun, were pressed against fences in the Tor Vergata field as Leo toured the crowd in his white popemobile in late afternoon.

Pope Leo XIV addressed a massive crowd of about one million people at a Catholic youth vigil on Saturday, the Vatican said. It’s the pontiff’s biggest event since his election in May. NBC News’ Claudio Lavanga reports from Rome.