About 500 teenagers from Galicia and elsewhere in Spain attended Life Teen’s XLT gathering in Santiago on Saturday. During evening adoration, Archbishop Francisco José Prieto Fernández urged them to listen closely and accompany others in daily life.
At San Agustín church, Archbishop Francisco José Prieto Fernández led evening adoration for young people who had spent the afternoon together at the XLT gathering in Santiago. About 500 teenagers from parishes in Galicia and other parts of Spain attended the Life Teen event on Saturday, 24 October. The gathering was part of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela’s autumn youth programme.
The afternoon programme at San Fernando parish gave adolescents from first year of ESO through the second year of bachillerato time to meet peers from other parish groups. After games and testimonies, participants met in small groups to share their experiences and concerns. The Cathedral’s renovation works prompted the change of venue: the afternoon activities were held at San Fernando, with evening prayer at San Agustín.
The gathering was organised by the Delegación de Pastoral Juvenil, led by Javier García, within the Archdiocese’s Delegación Diocesana para la Juventud. Life Teen is a youth ministry method that helps parishes accompany adolescents through dynamic catechesis, with the aim of helping them know Jesus and grow in faith within their parish community. The autumn programme also included retreats and spiritual exercises scheduled through December.
During the evening prayer, Prieto placed the young people’s lives and weariness before the Blessed Sacrament. He asked that prayer carry beyond the church and change how they treated others. His meditation drew on the Gospel of Matthew and Jesus’s answer about loving God and one’s neighbour.
Prieto said Christ’s love does not depend on a person’s merits or disappear in the face of their weaknesses. He connected that idea to the parable of the father who waits for his children and goes out to embrace them. Receiving that love, he said, should prompt people to reconsider the limits they place on loving others.
He brought the reflection down to everyday actions, urging the teenagers to forgive and care for people around them. Listening and understanding, he said, belong alongside worship, while the journey of faith is shared with others rather than travelled alone. Deacon Javier Lillo of the Archdiocese of Madrid described the gathering as a chance to strengthen unity among young Catholics through prayer and testimony.
The parish setting gave the event a different character from public outreach gatherings such as a Cáritas housing event in Guadalajara, which focused on homelessness and decent housing. Prieto ended by asking the young people to consider how they love and whom they love, then where they place their hope. The gathering also took place as the diocese prepared for the 2027 Compostela Holy Year; Lillo referred to plans for a large pilgrimage to Santiago. The following day, 25 October, Archbishop Prieto chaired a diocesan pastoral council meeting, where members discussed Holy Year preparations and the synodal process before turning to plans for a future diocesan pastoral assembly.
