“Be holy and imitate Christ,” is the main wish of the Pope to the Spanish priests who have gathered for the meeting in Madrid.
Inese Steinert – Vatican
In the letter, Leo XIV invites priests not to dwell too much on the challenges of secularism, but to be aware that their prayers and closeness to Christ can help others understand that the Lord will fill their hearts with the noblest desires.
“In all things belong to Him! Be holy!” The Pope repeats this exhortation of Saint John of Avila in his letter to the priests of the Archdiocese of Madrid regarding the meeting of priests. In a letter written on January 28 this year, the commemoration of St. Thomas Aquinas, Leo XIV acknowledges the challenges priests face. The Pope notes that at this moment in history, the Church invites priests to take a break in order to stop together from the daily rush and linger in reflection – not so much to devote their attention to the fulfillment of urgent tasks, but to learn to deeply understand the moment in which we are called to live and in the light of faith to recognize both the challenges and the opportunities that the Lord opens before them.
“Following this path,” writes the Bishop of Rome, “it becomes more and more necessary to educate our gaze and train in discernment, so that we can understand more clearly what God is already doing in us and in our communities, often in a discreet way.” The Pope points out that such an understanding of the present does not allow neglecting the cultural and social framework in which faith is expressed today. In many places, one can observe rapid secularization processes, ever-growing polarization of public discourse and a tendency to reduce the complexity of the human person, interpreting it through the prism of ideology, or through partial and insufficient categories.
The Pope points out that in this context, the risks of faith are instrumentalized, leveled, or considered irrelevant, while forms of existence that refuse any reference to transcendence take hold. The Pope adds that there is also a deep cultural change that cannot be ignored, which is the gradual disappearance of common points of contact.
Leo XIV recalls that the Christian seed fell on ground that was well prepared because the moral language, the great questions about the meaning of life, and some essential concepts were at least partly recognized in common. Today, this common substrate has weakened considerably. As a result, many of the basic ideas that helped people understand and pass on the Christian message for centuries are no longer visible and, in many cases, no longer understood. The Gospel now faces not only indifference, but also a different cultural horizon, where words no longer mean the same thing and where the original preaching cannot be taken for granted.
However, the Pope expresses his conviction that in the hearts of many people, especially young people, there is anxiety today, especially because the absolutization of prosperity has not brought the expected happiness; freedom divorced from truth has not delivered the promised fulfillment and material progress alone has not been able to satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart. All this has intensified the feeling of emptiness and shows that only God can fill this emptiness.
Asserting that the Lord is already working and moving forward with his grace, the Pope reminds the priests that those who the Church needs today are not men who carry out many tasks or achieve results, but rather, such men who resemble Christ and are able to carry out their ministry thanks to a living relationship with Him and being strengthened by the Eucharist, affirming themselves in pastoral neighborly love.
Leo XIV explains that this does not mean the introduction of new models or a new definition of the received priestly identity. Rather, it is an offer of self with a renewed intensity, it is the priesthood in its most authentic form, that is, to be an “alter Christus”, allowing Him to shape his life, to unite hearts and to give shape to a service lived in close union with God, in faithful self-giving to the Church and in concrete service to the people entrusted to him.
The Pope adds in the letter that the whole life of a priest is meant as a reference to God and the duty to lead others to the Mystery. After reminding that the Church is for everyone, the Holy Father once again emphasizes the fraternity between priests. He exhorts that no one feels alone in his service, but that all resist individualism, which impoverishes the heart and weakens the mission. In conclusion, Leo XIV encourages the Spanish priests in their ministry, calls them to adore Christ, to be men of deep prayer and to teach the same to the flock entrusted to them.
date:2026-02-09 22:32:00