In the Angelus of Sunday, November 9, 2025, Pope Leo XIV offered a profound reflection on the spiritual meaning of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, the Pope’s cathedral and symbol of the universal communion of the Church. From Saint Peter’s Square, the Holy Father addressed his Sunday message to the faithful, highlighting that the true greatness of the Lateran temple does not lie solely in its artistic and historical value, but in what it represents: the unity of Christians built on Christ as “living stones” of God’s spiritual temple.
The Pontiff invited us to look beyond material appearances to discover the inner mystery of the Church, recalling that Christ himself is the true sanctuary, dead and risen, an open door to the Father—at that moment, he dropped a phrase, perhaps intentional: The true sanctuary of God is Christ dead and risen. He is the only mediator of salvation, the only Redeemer. In his meditation, he emphasized that the holiness of the Church does not depend on human merits, but on the irrevocable gift of divine love that transforms even man’s weaknesses.
We leave below the complete message from Leo XIV:
Brothers and sisters: Good Sunday!
On the day of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, we contemplate the mystery of unity and communion with the Church of Rome, called to be the mother that carefully nurtures the faith and path of Christians throughout the world.
The Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and seat of the Successor of Peter, as we know, is not only a work of extraordinary historical, artistic, and religious importance, but also represents the driving force of the faith entrusted and guarded by the apostles and their transmission throughout history. The greatness of this mystery also shines in the artistic splendor of the building, which, in its central nave, houses the twelve large statues of the apostles, the first followers of Christ and witnesses to the Gospel.
This demands a spiritual gaze that helps us see beyond external appearances, to understand in the mystery of the Church much more than a simple place, a physical space, a construction made of stones; in reality, as the Gospel reminds us in the episode of the purification carried out by Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem (cf. Jn 2,13-22), the true sanctuary of God is Christ dead and risen. He is the only mediator of salvation, the only Redeemer, He who, by uniting himself to our humanity and transforming us with his love, represents the door (cf. Jn 10,9) that opens wide for us and leads us to the Father.
And, united to Him, we too are living stones of this spiritual building (cf. 1 P 2,4-5). We are the Church of Christ, his body, his members called to spread his Gospel of mercy, consolation, and peace throughout the world, through that spiritual worship that must shine above all in our witness of life.
Brothers and sisters, we must orient our hearts to this spiritual gaze. Often, the weaknesses and errors of Christians, along with so many stereotypes and prejudices, prevent us from understanding the richness of the mystery of the Church. Its holiness, in reality, does not reside in our merits, but in the “gift of the Lord [that] is never revoked,” which “with a love bordering on the paradoxical, chooses again and again as the vessel of his presence the dirty hands of man” (J. Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, Salamanca 2016, 286).
Let us walk, then, with the joy of being the holy People that God has chosen and invoke Mary, Mother of the Church, so that she may help us to welcome Christ and accompany us with her intercession.