Pope tells enthusiastic Brazilian youths to live fully, responsibly

Published: 2007-05-11

SAO PAULO, Brazil (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI addressed a stadium full of enthusiastic Brazilian young people, telling them that a life lived without moral responsibility is a life wasted. At a rally May 10 in Sao Paulo, the pope warned against sexual infidelity, drug use and unethical shortcuts to success and said the desire to build a more just society depends on following God's law. "Stretching out in front of you, my dear friends, is a life that all of us hope will be long; yet it is only one life, it is unique; do not let it pass in vain; do not squander it," the pope said. "Live it with enthusiasm and with joy, but most of all with a sense of responsibility," he said. About 40,000 young people crowded into the Paulo Machado de Carvalho soccer stadium for the papal encounter, and others spilled out into the Pacaembu neighborhood of Sao Paulo. Many arrived hours before the event. A large group of young people from Rio de Janeiro sang and played tambourines as they walked toward the stadium, stopping to wave at busloads of passing bishops.

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