Vatican City (AsiaNews) – At today's audience in St Peter's Square, Leo XIV began a series of catecheses on the pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes, a conciliar document on the “relationship between the Church and the contemporary world”, promulgated on 7 December 1965.
Speaking before approximately 20,000 faithful, the pontiff noted that since the “pastoral” nature of the Church is “constitutive”, the "path that Christ calls the Church to follow” is “sharing in our humanity”.
Leo, who is back presiding the audience from the square in front of St Peter's after the hot weeks of August, mentioned the concern Pope John XXIII had already expressed in his inaugural address to the Second Vatican Council in 1962.
At the time, John XXIII noted the “new order of things” that humanity was heading towards, urging the faithful to recognise the “mysterious plans of Divine Providence,” which, “with wisdom, arrange everything, even adverse human affairs, for the good of the Church”.
Church called to share in our humanity
For this reason, the Church’s “sharing in our humanity" is mentioned at the start of the long, conciliar document, “especially [with] those who are poor or in any way afflicted”.
Sharing leads to abandoning "passivity and indifference" in the face of rapid change, Leo said. “We cannot remain as unengaged spectators”, he said; instead “we must listen with our hearts, allow ourselves to be challenged, and become involved.”
“With Christ and sustained by the power of His Spirit, believers are called to take on the burdens of their brothers and sisters, especially those who are crushed by injustice, discrimination, and violence,” the pontiff said. “Indeed, only in sharing and commitment is it possible to arrive at adequate responses,” he added.
Leo XIV noted that closeness to sisters and brothers in difficulty is not “merely a moral imperative”. In fact, as Pope Francis said in Evangelii gaudium (2013), “‘the option for the poor is primarily a theological category rather than a cultural, sociological, political or philosophical one… We are called to find Christ in them’.”
Leo went on to explain what “Christian solidarity” leads to, namely “engaging with reality and also to unmasking the contradictions that characterize personal and social life in the contemporary world”.
The latter include “scientific and technological progress, which constantly offers new possibilities, but only to some”; and “a shared awareness that the future of the planet is at stake, coupled with an inability to renounce selfish consumption and the illusion that war is an effective means of building peace.”
“In a time marked by profound changes, giving rise to worrying imbalances, the Church is called to serve the human person, listening to and welcoming the deepest questions of their heart and the longings that dwell within them,” Leo said.
“[M]ay joy and hope – gaudium et spes – be the distinctive features of a Church who proclaims and bears witness to the Gospel, drawing close to the women and men of our time.”
The "Season of Creation" was inaugurated yesterday
Yesterday, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Leo XIV led in the afternoon the Mass for the Care of Creation in the Garden of the Madonnina of the Borgo Laudato Si’, Castel Gandolfo.
From the gardens, the pontiff inaugurated the Season of Creation, which will wrap up on 4 October 2026. Cardinal Fabio Baggio, director general of the Laudato Si’ Centre for Higher Education, and Father Manuel Dorantes, executive director, concelebrated the service.
In his homily, Leo recommended “the task of contemplation” towards creation to encourage "the encounter with the Lord", which represents the "first step towards an ‘authentic ecological conversion, where the effects of our encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in our relationship with the world around us’.”
For this reason, “we bear both personally and collectively” responsibility “for preserving the original harmony.” Indeed, “It is not yet too late, and the Season of Creation calls us to a profound conversion,” Leo said.
