Pope Benedict, recalling his own youth under the yoke of the "monster" of Nazism, urged young Americans Saturday to avoid the snares of drugs and materialism and seek the truth about life.
The 81-year-old pope traveled to the New York suburb of Yonkers, where he addressed some 30,000 young people on the field of St. Joseph's Seminary.
He was preceded on stage by pop singer Kelly Clarkson.
"As young Americans you are offered many opportunities for personal development, and you are brought up with a sense of generosity, service and fairness," he said.
"Yet you do not need me to tell you that there are also difficulties: activities and mind-sets which stifle hope, pathways which seem to lead to happiness and fulfillment but in fact end only in confusion and fear," he said.
As a teenager in his native Germany, the pope was forced to join the Hitler Youth but did not participate in it and his parents opposed the Nazis. At the end of World War Two, he was enrolled into an anti-aircraft unit. He was taken prisoner of war by American troops and held briefly.
"My own years as a teenager were marred by a sinister regime that thought it had all the answers; its influence grew — infiltrating schools and civic bodies, as well as politics and even religion — before it was fully recognized for the monster it was. It banished God and thus became impervious to anything true and good," he said.
He urged the young people to cherish their freedom and appreciate the sacrifices of those who made it possible but also to beware of falling into the darkness.
Shattered dreams
"Here, the dreams and longings that young people pursue can so easily be shattered or destroyed. I am thinking of those affected by drug and substance abuse, homelessness and poverty, racism, violence, and degradation — especially of girls and women," he said.
He said they should not be afraid to speak "the truth about what is good" and to beware of pitfalls hiding behind the guise of freedom.
"How many young people have been offered a hand which in the name of freedom or experience has led them to addiction, to moral or intellectual confusion, to hurt, to a loss of self-respect, even to despair and so tragically and sadly to the taking of their own life?" he asked.
He urged them "to strive for a pattern of life truly marked by charity, chastity and humility."
Earlier at the concert, the young people were joined by hundreds of seminarians dressed in black cassocks or black suits who jumped and bopped along to the rock and pop performances.
"Words can't really do justice to how great this is — so many young people gathered here," said Chan Lee, who is studying for the priesthood at St. John's Seminary in Los Angeles and came to see the pope along with 18 of his fellow students.
"It's concrete evidence that the Church is very much alive. We're in love with the Holy Father, we love our Church and our faith," he said.
Scott Samford, 20, drove 15 hours with more than 40 friends from Georgia College and State University, arriving at 3.30 a.m. Saturday.
"It's pretty much Christ's words speaking through the shepherd of the Church," he said, wearing a T-shirt reading, "Hitting One for the Pope's Team."
