Pope's 'Jubilee of Youth' ends with mass for 1 million pilgrims

Pope Leo XIV presided over a final mass in Rome for over one million young people on Sunday, the culmination of a youth pilgrimage that has drawn Catholics from across the world.

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"Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less," Pope Leo told the young people during his homily.

The week-long pilgrimage ending Sunday, a highlight of the Jubilee holy year, was an enormous undertaking for the Vatican, with a half a million young pilgrims in Rome for most of the week.

On Saturday night, before an twilight vigil led by the pope, organizers had confirmed the attendance of 800,000 people in the vast, open-air space on Rome's eastern outskirts, and on Sunday the Vatican said that number had grown to one million people.

Most of those attending slept on the ground overnight in tents, in sleeping bags or or mats in anticipation of Sunday's mass.

In his homily, the first American pope and former missionary encouraged the gathered youth to "spread your enthusiasm and the witness of your faith to everyone you meet!"