Pope Leo XIV Marks the Feast of the Transfiguration in Assisi With Thousands of Young Europeans

On August 6, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi, Italy, surrounded by thousands of young people from across Europe who had gathered for GO!, the 2026 Franciscan Youth Meeting — choosing one of Christianity's most layered feast days to speak about listening, community, and purpose.

Jesus was transfigured precisely in conversation with the Father, with those who preceded him — Moses and Elijah — and with his contemporaries, the disciples.— Pope Leo XIV

The feast of the Transfiguration, observed every August 6 across Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican traditions, commemorates an episode recounted in three of the four Gospels: Jesus takes his inner circle — Peter, James, and John — up a high mountain to pray. There, according to Matthew 17:2, 'his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light.' Moses and Elijah appear and speak with him; a voice from a bright cloud declares, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.' The disciples fall to the ground in fear. When they look up, only Jesus remains.

Leo told the assembled youth that the Church exists 'to draw us into this dynamic of listening and deciding, helping us understand for whom to live and how to live,' according to Catholic World Report. The setting — Assisi, the hometown of St. Francis — amplified the message: a community of young believers gathered at the foot of a tradition that asks its followers to be, in some sense, transformed.

The Transfiguration sits at the theological center of the Gospel narrative. Scholars and theologians have long noted that it follows almost immediately after Peter's confession — 'You are the Christ' — and Jesus's first explicit announcement of his coming suffering and death. The disciples had just been told their leader would be crucified. The Transfiguration, in this reading, is not a detour but a direct response: a glimpse of glory intended to carry them through what was coming.

We recall the Transfiguration of the Lord and how it prepared the apostles for the coming scandal of the cross.— Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus address, March 20, 2011

The Mass preface for the feast makes the same point in liturgical language, explaining that Christ 'revealed his glory in the presence of chosen witnesses … that the scandal of the cross might be removed from the hearts of his disciples,' according to Catholic World Report. The preface closes with a line that extends the event's meaning beyond the mountaintop: 'that he might show how in the body of the whole Church is to be fulfilled what so wonderfully shone forth first in its head.'

The Greek word used in Matthew and Mark for what happened to Jesus — metemorphōthē — is the root of the English word 'metamorphosis,' a change that originates from within rather than being imposed from outside. According to Logos, when Jesus began to shine, Christian tradition holds it was his divine nature radiating through his body, not an external light source. This is why Thomas Aquinas, according to Wikipedia, considered the Transfiguration 'the greatest miracle' — not a suspension of nature but a revelation of what was always there.

The two figures who appear alongside Jesus carry their own weight. Moses, who in the book of Exodus had his own face shine after encountering God, represents the Law. Elijah represents the prophets — and, according to the prophecy in Malachi, was expected to return before the coming of the Messiah. Vatican News notes that Moses had once asked God directly, 'Let me see your glory,' and was told no one could see God and live. On the mountain with Jesus, that encounter finally happens. The word Luke uses for what Moses and Elijah discuss with Jesus is 'exodus' — the same word Moses gave to Israel's departure from Egypt — applied now to Jesus's impending death, resurrection, and departure from Jerusalem.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II added the Transfiguration to the rosary as one of the Luminous Mysteries, a recognition of its place among what Wikipedia describes as the five major milestones in the Gospel narrative of Jesus's life, alongside his baptism, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.

The way of Jesus always leads us to happiness; do not forget it!— Pope Francis, Angelus address, March 1, 2015

For the young people in Assisi on August 6, 2026, Leo's homily framed the feast not as ancient history but as a live question: with whom do you choose to have the conversations that shape your life, and for whom are you living it?

Why it matters — The Transfiguration sits at the hinge of the Gospel narrative — the moment between Peter's confession and the road to Jerusalem — and Pope Leo XIV's choice to preach on it to thousands of young Europeans on its feast day signals how the Church continues to frame suffering, glory, and purpose as inseparable.

Reported by catholicworldreport.com, gotquestions.org, en.wikipedia.org, logos.com, cnewa.org, vaticannews.va, ewtnnews.com