Pope Francis explains to The Game Theorists YouTuber how to deal with haters

The Game Theorists' Matthew Patrick was among ten YouTube creators and channels to meet with Pope Francis over the weekend to discuss how they can use their influence to promote diversity and world peace to a global audience.

The meeting took place on Sunday in Vatican City at the 6th Scholas World Congress.

"Our main goal in bringing together such a different group of young people, as well as inviting them to continue using their influence in a positive way, is for them to build communities that understand the different perspectives and ideas that exist", said José María del Corral, president of Scholas Occurrentes, the organization founded in 2013 by the Pope to promote education and peace. "The Pope firmly believes that freedom of speech and the variety of opinions on the Internet play a crucial role in building more respect towards diversity and in unifying the people in world."

Over the coming weeks, the YouTube creators who were in the meeting will create videos and share their own personal insights into the conversation they had with the pope.

In the translated excerpt from the meeting below, you can watch Patrick ask the Pope how he deals with sticking up for what he believes is right in the face of a possibly angry audience.

Joining Patrick at the unusual meeting were YouTubers Dulce Candy, Hayla Ghazal, Louise Pentland, Lucas Castel, R​afael Procopio, ​Jamie and Nikki Reslim, ​Greta Menchi, the three siblings who make up ​Los Polinesios and the reggae band anna RF.

Patrick, known as Mat Pat on his channel, has about 6.3 million subscribers on his channels which are dedicated to video games and critical theory.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say how exciting it is to see such a major world leader take interest in the power of new media to create positive social change," Patrick said in a prepared statement. "It's something we all believe in, so to have more traditional bodies take notice of the work we're doing and be interested to learn more is incredibly validating."

You can watch the latest video from The Game Theorists, uploaded a couple of weeks before Patrick met with the Pope, below. It details the hunt for a Super Smash Bros. lost stage.