The Pope has rebuked alienated youths who spend the day slouching on a sofa.

In Saturday’s prayer vigil at World Youth Day, attended by 1.6 million young people in Krakow, Francis used his speech to compel the crowd to get moving and make the world a better place.

He urged them get off the couch and build their own future.

During the event, a Syrian girl from Aleppo tearfully told what it is like to live in a war zone.

Pilgrims hold candles and pray at World Youth Day. Photo: AAP

Her touching testimony prompted the pontiff to tell young people that some situations can seem very “far away” and unreal just because they are only seen “on the screen of a mobile phone or a computer”.

“But when we make contact with life itself, with these real lives that aren’t just media stories on small screens, then we’re getting somewhere and we feel invited to get involved,” he told them.

He warned youths that the solution “is not conquering hate with more hate, conquering violence with more violence, conquering terror with more terror,” but rather the “response to this world at war has a name: it’s called fraternity, it’s called brotherhood, it’s called communion”.

Pope Francis sought to shake up young people caught in “the paralysis” of society and all those who think “happiness is a sofa”.

He said sitting on “a sofa helps us be comfortable, calm and safe. A sofa – like the modern kind that includes a massage function – that guarantees hours of peace and quiet so we can play video games or spend hours in front of a computer”.

The Pope coined a new term called “sofa happiness”, which little by little, without even realising it, makes us drift off, leaving us dopey and distracted, while others – perhaps the craftiest but not the best people – decide our future for us”.

With AAP