NATION/WORLD

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV urged U.S. high school students to be "intentional" with their screen time, their prayer time and their involvement in a local parish. "One of my own personal heroes, one of my favorite saints, is St. Augustine of Hippo," the pope told 16,000 young Catholics meeting in Indianapolis. "He searched everywhere for happiness, but nothing satisfied him until he opened his heart to God. That is why he wrote, 'You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.' "With a livestream connection, Pope Leo spoke for close to an hour Nov. 21 with participants at the National Catholic Youth Conference meeting at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A Catholic who reported having had some sort of mystical experience is not automatically a candidate for sainthood, Pope Leo XIV said, but such a report is not a reason to dismiss a candidate either. Mysticism is "an experience that surpasses mere rational knowledge --not because of the merit of the one who lives it, but through a spiritual gift that may manifest itself in different, even apparently opposite, ways, such as radiant visions or deep darkness, afflictions or ecstasies," the pope said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Being a Christian means recognizing every person as a brother or sister and always being ready to lend a helping hand, Pope Leo XIV said ."Brothers and sisters support each other in hardship, they do not turn their back on those who are in need, and they weep and rejoice together in the active pursuit of unity, trust and mutual reliance," the pope said Nov. 12 at his weekly general audience. Continuing his series of audience talks on "Jesus our hope," the pope said he wanted to look specifically at Jesus' command to his followers that they love one another.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV encouraged an international group of young adults to reach out to their peers and invite them to be active members of a parish community rather than trying to live their faith alone. The pope met Oct. 31 with members of the International Youth Advisory Body, a group of 20 young adults from around the world who serve three-year terms as advisers to the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life. The North American members are Sally Yasmine from the Archdiocese of Montreal and Wyatt Olivas from the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Young people must take control of technology and "humanize" online spaces to be friendly, creative places -- not isolated echo chambers, forms of addiction or ways to escape, Pope Leo XIV said. "Instead of being tourists on the web, be prophets in the digital world!" he told thousands of students gathered in the Paul VI Audience Hall Oct. 30. "How wonderful it would be if one day your generation were remembered as the 'generation plus,'" he told the mostly Gen-Z crowd to applause, "remembered for the extra drive you brought to the church and the world."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Living in hope means accepting that one does not have answers to all questions and staying calm amid conflicts and tensions, Pope Leo XIV said. "We do not have the answers to all the questions already. But we have Jesus. We follow Jesus. And so, we hope for what we do not yet see," the pope told pilgrims at a special Jubilee general audience Oct. 25. In the pope's brief remarks, he offered pilgrims the example of Nicholas of Cusa, a German cardinal and papal diplomat in the 1400s, which the pope described as "an equally troubled age" of wars between nations and divisions among Christians.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV will issue a document on Catholic education Oct. 28, marking the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's declaration on education, a top Vatican official said. Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, also told reporters Oct. 22 that in the document Pope Leo will name St. John Henry Newman "co-patron" of Catholic education.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Holiness flourishes in those who serve the weakest, and Christians should defend the truths of the faith, no matter the cost, Pope Leo XIV said, highlighting key traits of the new saints he proclaimed. Meeting with visitors from different countries who were in Rome for the Oct. 19 canonization of seven new saints, Pope Leo said, "the men and women we proclaimed saints yesterday are shining signs of hope for all of us, because they offered their lives in love for Christ and for their brothers and sisters."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV traveled 23 miles by car to board the "Bel Espoir" sailboat and speak to the crew about peacemaking. The boat, whose name means "beautiful hope," had spent the previous eight months sailing to 30 Mediterranean ports where rotating crews of 25 young adults met their peers and talked about their faith and the challenges to peace. Meeting the last crew Oct. 17 at the marina in Ostia, outside of Rome, Pope Leo told them the world needs "signs, witness, impressions that give hope."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Modern hermits seek solitude not to escape the world but to learn how to listen more closely to God, to their neighbors and to creation, Pope Leo XIV said as he met about 50 Italian hermits who came to the Vatican for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life. The hermits, both men and women, include members of religious orders, diocesan priests and diocesan hermits who have chosen to live mostly alone in prayer, study and manual labor. For a short period each day, many of them also welcome visitors coming for spiritual direction.