Pope Francis Homilies

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Pope Leo Angelus 22.03.26

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Pope Leo General Audience 18.03.26

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

Today I would like to revisit the second chapter of the Conciliar Constitution Lumen gentium (LG), devoted to the Church as the people of God.

The messianic people (LG, 9), receive from Christ the participation in the priestly, prophetic and kingly work office through which his salvific mission is carried out. The Council Fathers teach that the Lord Jesus, through the new and eternal Covenant, has established a kingdom of priests, constituting his disciples as a ‘royal priesthood’ (1 Pet 2:9; cf. 1 Pet 2:5; Rev 1:6). This common priesthood of the faithful is given with Baptism, which enables us to worship God in spirit and truth, and to “confess before men the faith which they have received from God through the Church” (LG, 11). Furthermore, through the sacrament of Confirmation, all the baptised “are more perfectly bound to the Church … and the Holy Spirit endows them with special strength so that they are more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith, both by word and by deed, as true witnesses of Christ” (ibid.). This consecration is at the root of the common mission that unites the ordained ministries and the lay faithful.

In this regard, Pope Francis observed that, “Looking at the People of God is remembering that we all enter the Church as lay people. The first sacrament, which seals our identity forever, and of which we should always be proud, is Baptism. Through Baptism and by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, (the faithful) ‘are consecrated as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood’ (LG, 10), [so that] everyone forms the faithful Holy People of God” (Letter to the President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, 19 March 2016).

The exercise of the royal priesthood takes place in many ways, all aimed at our sanctification, first and foremost through participation in the offering of the Eucharist. Through prayer, asceticism and active charity, we thus bear witness to a life renewed by God’s grace (cf. LG, 10). As the Council summaries, “it is through the sacraments and the exercise of the virtues that the sacred nature and organic structure of the priestly community is brought into operation” (LG, 11).

The Council Fathers then teach that the holy People of God also participate in the prophetic mission of Christ (cf. LG, 12). In this context, the important theme of the sense of the faith and the consensus of the faithful is introduced. The Doctrinal Commission of the Council specified that this sensus fidei “is like a faculty of the whole Church, by which she, in her faith, recognises the revelation handed down, distinguishing between true and false in matters of faith, and at the same time penetrates it more deeply and applies it more fully in life” (cf. Acta Synodalia, III/1, 199). The sense of faith therefore belongs to individual believers not in their own right, but as members of the People of God as a whole.

Lumen gentium focuses on this latter aspect, and places it in relation to the infallibility of the Church, to which that of the Roman Pontiff is inherent and by which it is served. “The entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One (c. 1 Jn 2:20,27), cannot err in matters of belief. They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples’ supernatural discernment in matters of faith when from the Bishops down to the last of the lay faithful they show universal agreement in matters of faith and morals” (LG, 12). The Church, therefore, as the communion of the faithful – which naturally includes the pastors – cannot err in matters of faith: the organ through which this truth is preserved, founded on the anointing of the Holy Spirit, is the supernatural sense of faith of the entire People of God, which is manifested in the consensus of the faithful. From this unity, which the Magisterium of the Church safeguards, it follows that every baptized person is an active agent of evangelisation, called to bear consistent witness to Christ in accordance with the prophetic gift which the Lord bestows upon His whole Church.

Indeed, the Holy Spirit, who comes to us from the Risen Christ, “distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts He makes them fit and ready to undertake the various tasks and offices which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the Church” (LG, 12). A particular demonstration of this charismatic vitality is offered by consecrated life, which continually germinates and flourishes through the work of grace. Ecclesial associations, too, are a shining example of the variety and fruitfulness of spiritual fruits for the edification of the People of God.

I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from Nigeria, Tanzania, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and the United States of America. With prayerful good wishes that this Lent will be a time of grace and spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of you joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Finally, my thoughts turn to the sick, newlyweds, and young people, especially those at the Cristo Re School in Rome and the San Giorgio Institute in Pavia. I entrust the resolutions and aspirations of each one to Saint Joseph, heavenly Patron of the Universal Church, whose liturgical solemnity we will celebrate tomorrow.

My blessing to everyone!

18.03.26

Pope Leo Holy Mass 15.03.26

Excerpt below for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Dear brothers and sisters,

Our Eucharistic celebration today, more than ever, is filled with joy. Indeed, the beauty of our gathering today is set against the backdrop of the Sunday known as “Laetare”, meaning “rejoice”, taken from the words of Isaiah: “Rejoice with Jerusalem” (Entrance Antiphon, cf. Is 66:10).

This gives us cause to reflect. At present, many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world are suffering because of violent conflicts, caused by the absurd claim that problems and differences can be resolved through war, whereas we must engage in unceasing dialogue for peace. Some even go so far as to invoke God’s name in these choices of death, but God cannot be enlisted by darkness. Rather, He always comes to bestow light, hope and peace upon humanity, and it is peace that those who invoke Him must seek.

It is this Sunday’s message: no matter how deep the abyss into which a person may fall because of their sins, Christ comes to bring a brighter light, capable of freeing them from the blindness of evil, so that they may begin a new life.

The encounter between Jesus and the man born blind (cf. Jn 9:1-41) can, in fact, be likened to the scene of a birth, through which the man, like a child coming into the world, discovers a new world, seeing himself, others and life through the eyes of God (cf. 1 Sam 16:9).

Let us ask ourselves, then: what does this gaze consist of? What does it reveal? What does it mean to “look with the eyes of God”?

According to the Gospel of John, it means, first and foremost, overcoming the prejudices of those who, when faced with a suffering person, see only an outcast to be despised, or a problem to be avoided, retreating into the fortress of selfish individualism. So often we hear people say things like: “When things were going well, there were plenty of friends; but when the going got tough, many of them left, they vanished!” Jesus does not act in this way: He looks upon the blind man with love, not as an inferior being or a nuisance, but as a loved one in need of help. Thus their encounter becomes an opportunity for God’s work to be revealed in everyone.

In the “sign”, in the miracle, Jesus reveals His divine power and the man, as if retracing the gestures of creation – the mud, the saliva – once again fully reveals his beauty and dignity as a creature made in the image and likeness of God. Thus, having regained his sight, he becomes a witness to the light.

Of course, this involves a great deal of effort: he must get used to so many things previously unknown to him, learn to distinguish colours and shapes, and rebuild his relationships – and it is not easy. Indeed, the hostility surrounding him grows, provoking him, and not even his parents have the courage to defend him (cf. Jn 9:18–23). It almost seems, absurdly, as though those close to him wish to undo what has happened. Not only that: in the interrogation to which the blind man who can now see is subjected, it is above all Jesus who is put on trial, accused of having violated the Sabbath in order to heal him.

Thus, another form of blindness is revealed in those present, one that is different and even more serious: that of failing to see, right before their eyes, the face of God, for which they trade the possibility of a saving encounter for the sterile security afforded by the legalistic observance of a formal discipline.

15.03.26 m

FAMINE

Pope Francis

Hunger

Hunger is an injustice that destroys men and women because they have nothing to eat, even if there is a lot food available in the world. Human exploitation; different forms of slavery; recently I saw a film shot inside a prison where migrants are locked up and tortured to turn them into slaves. This is still happening 70 years after the Declaration of Human Rights. Cultural colonization. This is exactly what the Devil wants, to destroy human dignity – and that is why the Devil is behind all forms of persecution.

01.06.18

Pope Leo

Message for Lent 2026

Excerpt below for the full transcript click on the link above

Listening and Fasting:

Lent as a Time of Conversion

Dear brothers and sisters,

Lent is a time in which the Church, guided by a sense of maternal care, invites us to place the mystery of God back in the centre of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life.

Every path towards conversion begins by allowing the word of God to touch our hearts and welcoming it with a docile spirit. There is a relationship between the word, our acceptance of it and the transformation it brings about. For this reason, the Lenten journey is a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ, accompanying him on the road to Jerusalem, where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection will be fulfilled.

13.02.26

Pope Leo Angelus 15.03.26

Excerpt below for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!

The Gospel reading for the Fourth Sunday of Lent narrates the healing of a man blind from birth (cf. Jn 9:1–41). Through the symbolism of this account, John the Evangelist speaks to us of the mystery of salvation: while we were in darkness, while humanity walked in gloom (cf. Is 9:2), God sent his Son as the light of the world, to open the eyes of the blind and illuminate our lives.

The prophets had announced that the Messiah would open the eyes of the blind (cf. Is 29:18; 35:5; Ps 146:8). Jesus himself confirmed the authenticity of his mission by showing that “the blind receive their sight” (Mt 11:5), and he presented himself with the words: “I am the light of the world” (Jn 8:12). Certainly, all of us can say that we are “blind from birth,” for by ourselves we cannot see the mystery of life in all its depth. That is why God became flesh in Jesus, so that the clay of our humanity, shaped by the breath of his grace, might receive a new light, one capable of helping us to see ourselves, others and God in truth.

It is striking that, over the centuries, the opinion has spread and persists to this day that faith is a kind of “leap in the dark,” a renunciation of thought, such that having faith would mean believing “blindly.” However, the Gospel shows us that through contact with Christ, our eyes are opened. Indeed, the religious authorities ask the healed blind man with insistence: “Then how were your eyes opened?” (Jn 9:10); and again: “How did he open your eyes?” (v. 26).

Brothers and sisters, we too are healed by the love of Christ and are called to live our faith with “open eyes.” Faith is not a blind act, a forsaking of reason or a retreat into some sort of religious certainty that causes us to turn our gaze away from the world. On the contrary, faith helps us to see things “as Jesus himself sees them, with his own eyes: it is a participation in his way of seeing” (Lumen Fidei, 18). In this sense, faith is an invitation to “open our eyes,” as the Lord did, especially towards the suffering of others and the afflictions of the world.

Today, in a particular way, in the face of the many questions of the human heart, as well as the tragic situations of injustice, violence and suffering that mark our time, it is essential that our faith be alert, attentive and prophetic. It should likewise open our eyes to the darkness of the world, and bring to others the light of the Gospel through our commitment to peace, justice and solidarity.

Let us ask the Virgin Mary to intercede for us, so that the light of Christ may open the eyes of our hearts and enable us to bear witness to him with simplicity and courage.

Dear brothers and sisters,

For two weeks now, the peoples of the Middle East have been suffering the horrific violence of war. Thousands of innocent people have been killed, and countless others have been forced to flee their homes. I renew my prayerful closeness to all who have lost loved ones in the attacks, which have struck schools, hospitals and residential areas.

On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East, and of all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict: cease fire! May paths of dialogue be reopened! Violence can never lead to the justice, stability and peace for which the peoples are waiting.

I wish all of you a happy Sunday.

15.03.26 a

Pope Leo Angelus 15.03.26

Pope Leo General Audience 11.03.26

Excerpt below for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

Continuing in our reflection on the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium (LG), today we will look at the second chapter, dedicated to the People of God.

God, who created the world and humanity, and who wishes to save every man, carries out his work of salvation in history, choosing a real people and dwelling among them. For this reason, He calls Abraham and promises him descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore (cf. Gen 22:17-18). With Abraham’s children, after freeing them from slavery, God makes a covenant with them, accompanies them, cares for them, and gathers them together whenever they stray. Therefore, the identity of this people is given by God’s action and by faith in Him. They are called to become a light for other nations, like a beacon that will draw all peoples, the whole of humanity, to itself (cf. Is 2:1-5).

The Council affirms that “All these things, however, were done by way of preparation and as a figure of that new and perfect covenant, which was to be ratified in Christ, and of that fuller revelation which was to be given through the Word of God Himself made flesh” ( LG, 9). Indeed, it is Christ who, in giving His Body and His Blood, unites this people in Himself and in a definitive way. It is a people now made up of members of every nation; it is united by faith in Him, by adherence to Him, by living the same life as Him, animated by the Spirit of the Risen One. This is the Church: the people of God who draw their existence from the body of Christ [1] and who are themselves the body of Christ; [2] not a people like any other, but the People of God, called together by Him and made up of women and men from all the peoples of the earth. Its unifying principle is not a language, a culture, an ethnicity, but faith in Christ: the Church is therefore – according to a splendid expression of the Council – the assembly of “all those who in faith look upon Jesus” ( LG, 9).

11.03.26

The Gospel in your pocket

How do we receive the Word of God? The response is clear: As one receives Jesus Christ. The Church tells us that Jesus is present in the Scripture, in His Word.

Always carry a small Gospel with you in your purse, in your pocket, and read a passage from the Gospel during the day. Not so much to learn something, but mostly to find Jesus, because Jesus actually is in His Word, in His Gospel. Every time I read the Gospel, I find Jesus. - Pope Francis 01.09.14

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Thank you, Francis

Every month, you have invited us to pray with you for the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church, teaching us to learn compassion for others from the heart of Christ. Thank you, Francis, for your life and your witness.

Your Worldwide Prayer Network.

Pope Francis Easter Message and Urbi et Orbi Blessing 20.04.25

Easter Sunday