Pope Francis, young YouTube celebrities talk global issues; pontiff expresses appreciation for beauty vlogs

Pope Francis continues to blaze a path into the heart of today's tech-oriented youth. The head of the Roman Catholic Church met with a group of web influencers Sunday, May 29 to discuss a variety of global issues.

The roundtable meeting, which was held at the Vatican, was attended by 12 YouTube sensations from all over the world. For almost 50 minutes, the pontiff and the web stars appeared to enjoy their discourse, touching on a range of topics, including football player Diego Maragona's 1986 "hand of God" goal and more sobering matters as migration, identity, as well as extremism.

The pope talked of how the bloggers could influence their audiences in creating virtual identities and foster a climate of acceptance for those who may feel isolated among the latter group.

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church also said, "You can create a virtual identity; you belong to this circle at least virtually. From that you can start taking a path of optimism and hope."

In particular, the church icon, who referred to himself as a tech dinosaur, expressed an appreciation for beauty vlogs such as that of Louise Pentland's, the Sprinkle of Glitter, which is a style and fashion channel on the Google video platform.

He complimented Pentland saying, "I am glad that you carry out the type of work you said, following the line of beauty, it's a great thing. To preach beauty and show beauty helps neutralise aggression."

Another beauty vlogger, Dulce Candy, was one of those who took part in the talks. The Mexican-American had crossed the border as a child and gained illegal entry into the United States. Hayla Ghazal, who is of Syrian ancestry, used comedy in Dubai as a force for changing the prevailing attitudes toward women in the Middle East.

With the talk of migration, Pope Francis remembered an Italian child who, only the day before, created a drawing depicting children welcoming a migrant to their game. His admiration of the child was in contrast to his words regarding European politicians who, he says, have been unable to promote integration in society.

And as talk eventually turned to extremism, the pontiff pointed out that every religion has its own group of "fundamentalists," all believing themselves as knowing and having the truth.

Winding down the meeting, Pope Francis thanked the participants for imparting to him their gift of youth. This champion of the youth has hailed the Internet as a "gift from God" and a "force for good," a theme that many believe would find its way into this year's celebration of World Youth Day in July.