Pope Leo XIV has written the foreword to the new book “YOUCAT. Love Forever,” published by the Youcat Foundation. It is intended for young people, accompanying them as they reflect on love, relationships and marriage in the light of the Catholic faith. In the foreword, the Pope stresses that true love is not just a passing emotion, but a profound “yes” to another person, a decision and a lifelong covenant.
“Dear young friends, your hearts long for love. For a deep, passionate and lasting love,” Leo XIV writes. He tells young people that this desire is no coincidence: it is a sign that they were created for love.
The Pope also recalls Saint Augustine, whose coat of arms depicts a burning heart pierced by an arrow. He quotes these words from the *Confessions*: “You have made us for yourself, O God, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
In this thought, the Pope recognizes a longing for God’s love, which God pours into the souls of those who are united with him. He explains that God can be present in human love, transform it and enable people to love as he does: through service, generous self-giving and, when necessary, forgiveness. “God is Love and created you to love him and the people around you,” he says.
Among the forms of human love, Leo XIV gives a special place to the love between a man and a woman. It can pierce the heart like an arrow, powerfully and swiftly, he writes, but true love does not stop at that initial feeling. It is not merely an emotion kindled for a moment, but “a profound ‘yes’ to another person, a decision, a journey and a lifelong covenant.”
The foreword also cites words from his meeting with young people in Lebanon on 1 December 2025, when he spoke about a love that can last forever if it reflects the eternal radiance of God, who is love. He recalls that strong and fruitful relationships are built together on mutual trust and on the “forever” present in the call to family life and consecrated life.
Such love, the Pope continues, puts this question first: “How can I love in the same way as Christ?”—and only then: “What do I gain?” In marriage, he says, something of the mystery of God himself is revealed. When husband and wife give themselves to each other completely and reciprocally in love, God becomes present between them. He describes their fidelity, forgiveness and daily struggle for what is good as an image of Christ’s love for the Church.
The Pope acknowledges that this way of looking at things may sound like romantic idealization, but stresses that it expresses a profound truth about reality. He quotes Saint Augustine again, this time from his *Expositions on the Psalms*: “In the one Christ, we are one.”
“Do not be afraid of its depth!” he urges young people, speaking of the great love to which God calls them. He describes it as strong enough to overcome difficulties and great enough to sustain them throughout their lives. It is not perfect, but it grows in the light of faith. True love, he emphasizes, is a gift from God that we cannot create on our own. While human love is often stained by selfish desires, God’s love is selfless, patient and steadfast, with the qualities Saint Paul lists in the First Letter to the Corinthians.
The Pope sees the most beautiful image of true love in the cross of Jesus Christ, who loved to the point of giving his own life. He describes Jesus’ words from the Gospel of John as the “DNA” of Christianity: “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you! No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
He presents the book “YOUCAT. Love Forever” as a companion for young people on this journey. According to his foreword, young people from more than thirty different countries bear witness in its pages, describing the ideal to which Christ calls them as a captivating treasure.
The Pope stresses that the book invites readers to open their hearts to a project greater than any human dream. “It is a preparation for a ‘yes’ that lasts not just one day, but a whole lifetime,” he writes, adding that this “yes” is like God’s love: tireless and faithful.
Leo XIV says that the book came about at the initiative of “the beloved Pope Francis” and says that he is praying for all who will read it.
The foreword ends with a prayer: “May Jesus Christ disturb your heart until it finds its peace in him. May the Holy Spirit be your light and your strength.” He also prays that young people, like Mary, Mother of Beautiful Love, may respond courageously and confidently to what he calls the most beautiful of all vocations: the call to love.
