THE Pope was given a rock-star welcome by hundreds of thousands of young devotees at an event dubbed the Catholic Woodstock.

Leo XIV arrived by helicopter on Saturday for the event on a field on the outskirts of Rome.

The 69-year-old, who is the first pope born in the United States, was welcomed with loud cheers from pilgrims. These visitors, hailing from about 150 different nations, had gathered in Italy and spent the week residing in tents at Tor Vergata.

He led a vigil on Saturday night and yesterday morning returned for a Mass, thought to have been attended by a million people.

During his initial significant interaction with the upcoming wave of Catholics, the Pope addressed them in Spanish, Italian, and English, stating, “Friendship has the power to genuinely transform the world.”

“Friendship is a path to peace.

“How much the world needs missionaries of the Gospel who are witnesses of justice and peace.”

At the Mass he told his audience they stood alongside the young of Gaza and Ukraine.

Francisco Michel, a pilgrim from Mexico, described the pontiff’s arrival as a “spiritual growth”.

He said: “It is something spiritual that you can experience only every 25 years.

“As a young person, having the chance to live this meeting with the Pope, I feel it is a spiritual growth.”

The week-long Jubilee of Youth festival, called a Catholic Woodstock by Italian media, is a highlight of the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year.