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 first US-born pope, 69, was greeted by deafening screams from the pilgrims, who had gathered in Italy from nearly 150 countries and spent much of the week living 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.

In his first big encounter with the next generation of Catholics, the Pontiff spoke in Spanish, Italian and English as he told them: “Friendship can really change 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.