In the framework of the Jubilee of Hope, Pope Leo XIV met in the Paul VI Hall with religious from all over the world to participate in the Jubilee of Consecrated Life. The meeting was marked by the Pontiff’s gratitude toward the consecrated for their witness of faith, as well as a series of exhortations on their mission in the current Church.
The Pope greeted the participants by recalling that the Church “needs you and all the diversity and richness of the forms of consecration and ministry that you represent.” With words that took up quotes from Francis, he encouraged them not to fall into spiritual weariness and to live their vocation rooted in Christ, “for only in this way will you be able to fulfill your mission in a fruitful manner.”
Call to synodality and reconciliation
One of the axes of his intervention was the insistence on synodality as an ecclesial style, exhorting the consecrated to be “experts in synodality” and “prophets at the service of the people of God.” He pointed out that their community life, marked by the cultural and international diversity of the institutes, places them in a privileged condition to practice listening, discernment, and bridge-building.
The Pope presented this vision as the best response to the challenges of our time, although it did not fail to generate some unease: the insistence on synodality is perceived in some sectors as a risk of reducing the identity of consecrated life to an instrument of the Vatican’s institutional agenda, rather than to the radical following of Christ.
The mission to “awaken the world”
Leo XIV took up expressions from St. John Paul II and from Francis to ask the consecrated to “awaken the world” with a life centered on Christ and on service to the poorest. He exhorted them to live as “pilgrims of hope, on the path of peace,” being witnesses of reconciliation and unity in fractured societies.
He also highlighted the need to give priority attention to universal fraternity, the care of creation, and commitment to the poor. He recognized that these are fields where consecrated life has already offered constant witness, but he asked them not to fall into routine: “Continue to be guardians and promoters of this great tradition, for the good of the brothers!”.
A hope that does not disappoint
In the final part of his speech, Leo XIV encouraged looking to the future with confidence and not fearing bold decisions, recalling that hope is not based on numbers or human strategies, but on Christ. He insisted that consecrated life must renew itself continually to be a sign of fidelity in the Church and in the world.
He concluded by promising his prayer and blessing, inviting each consecrated person to maintain confidence in the Holy Spirit, “who continues to do great things with us.”
Below, we leave the full message of Leo XIV to the participants in the Jubilee of Consecrated Life
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you!
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!
I am glad to be with you, who represent all the consecrated men and women of the world, in this week of your Jubilee in Rome. I welcome you with an embrace that comes from the heart and I wish it to reach the most remote corners of the earth, where I know I can find you. In particular, recalling what Pope Francis already told you, I too want to declare that the Church needs you and all the diversity and richness of the forms of consecration and ministry that you represent (cf. Message for the World Day of Consecrated Life, February 2, 2023).
With your vitality and with the witness of a life in which Christ is the center and the Lord, you can contribute to “awakening the world” (cf. Francis, Apostolic Letter to all consecrated persons on the occasion of the Year of Consecrated Life, November 21, 2014, II, 2). We heard this morning that you can awaken the world. In this sense, it would be necessary to always reiterate how important it is for all of you to be rooted in Christ. Only in this way, in fact, will you be able to fulfill the mission in a fruitful manner, living the vocation as part of the wonderful adventure of following Jesus more closely (cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUM. CONC., Decr. Perfectae caritatis, 1). United to Him, and in Him among you, your small lights become the outline of a luminous path in the great project of peace and salvation that God has for humanity. Therefore, to you, sons and daughters of Founders and Foundresses, I address a warm exhortation to “return to the heart,” as the place in which to rediscover the spark that animates the beginnings of your history, trusting that, in the end, you will find not a specific mission or isolated project, but the passionate love of God that called you to respond to the vocation of evangelical radicality. In this, in the burning heart of God’s love, lies the root of your mission and your prophecy today, in a world marked by tensions, polarizations, and divisions, which cries out for credible witnesses of fraternity and communion in God, where harmony and the universal openness of charity may flourish.
You have prepared for these days with a long journey, in your countries, within your Institutes, Societies and Associations, within the various Conferences, inspired by the motto: “Pilgrims of hope, on the path of peace.” There is a profound need for hope and peace that dwells in the heart of every man and woman of our time, and you, consecrated women and men, want to be bearers and witnesses of it with your life, as disseminators of concord through word and example, and even before that as persons who carry within themselves, by the grace of God, the imprint of reconciliation and unity. Only in this way will you be, in the various environments in which you live and work, builders of bridges and spreaders of a culture of encounter (cf. Francis, Fratelli tutti, 215), in dialogue, in mutual knowledge, in respect for differences, with that faith that makes you recognize in every human being a single sacred and wonderful face: that of Christ.
Last night, many of you engaged in dialogue with the city of Rome in some squares, with moments of exchange, fraternity, and witness around important themes, such as the commitment to build universal fraternity, attention to the poorest people, and the care of creation. These are focal points that speak of your constant effort to establish and promote environments and structures of fraternity, where poverty is overcome, human dignity is placed at the center, and the cry of the “common home” is heard. These are areas of service for which, over the centuries, consecrated life has always shown special interest and care, and toward which, even today, its daily and hidden action bears witness to a privileged attention. Continue to do so! Continue to be guardians and promoters of this great tradition, for the good of the brothers!
However, I would like to invite you to reflect on another important theme for the Church of our time: that of synodality, exhorting you to remain faithful to the path that we are traveling together. As St. Paul VI said speaking of the mission of the consecrated: “How could modern man understand religious, if not through the test of the works of their charity and fidelity!” (Ecclesiam suam, August 6, 1964, 117). It is the description of a passionate mission: a “domestic dialogue” that today is also entrusted to you, indeed, to you in a special way, for a continuous renewal of the Body of Christ in relationships, in processes, in methods. Your life, the very way in which you are organized, the frequently international and intercultural character of your Institutes, place you in fact in a privileged condition to be able to live daily values such as mutual listening, participation, exchange of opinions and abilities, the common search for paths according to the voice of the Spirit.
From all this, the Church asks you today to be special witnesses in the different dimensions of your life, first of all, walking in communion with the entire great family of God, feeling it as Mother and Teacher, sharing with it the joy of your vocation and also, when necessary, overcoming divisions, forgiving injustices suffered, disposing yourselves to the forgiveness of closures caused by self-referentiality. Work to become, day by day, more and more “experts in synodality,” to be prophets at the service of the people of God.
To conclude, I would like to make an invitation to you to see tomorrow with serenity and confidence, and not to be afraid to make bold decisions. In this regard, I would like to recall what Pope Francis wrote in the Apostolic Letter to the consecrated on the occasion of the Year of Consecrated Life. Our hope, he wrote, “is not based on numbers or works, but on Him in whom we have put our trust (cf. 2Tm 1:12) and for whom ‘nothing is impossible’ (Lk 1:37).” This is the hope that does not disappoint and that will allow consecrated life to continue writing a great history in the future, toward which we must keep our gaze, aware that it is toward Him that the Holy Spirit impels us to continue doing great things with us (n. 3). And he added: “Scrutinize the horizons of your life and of the present moment with vigilant attention.”
Dear sisters and brothers, continue on your way with this confidence. I thank you for your fidelity and the great good you do in the Church and in the world. I promise you a special remembrance in my prayer and I bless you from the heart.
Thank you.