Pope: God visits the underworld of existence ‘on tiptoe’
At the audience, speaking to 35,000 people standing in the rain, Leo XIV called on the faithful to pray the rosary for peace every day in October. To this end, a meeting is set for Saturday, 11 October in St. Peter's Square. “I invite you to nourish yourselves with science for a peaceful future,” he said to Arabic-speaking students who start the school year. “The Lord descends where man has hidden out of fear,” and “brings him back to the light,” Leo said during the catechesis.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – A colourful sea of umbrellas greeted Pope Leo XIV during this morning’s general audience in St Peter's Square. Despite the rain, approximately 35,000 people gathered for the event. The pontiff welcomed them during a long ride in the covered popemobile.
Earlier, the pope had greeted a group of sick people in the Paul VI Hall. At the end, greeting Italian-speaking pilgrims, he turned his thoughts to the upcoming month of October, “dedicated to the Holy Rosary”.
“I invite everyone to pray the rosary for peace every day next month, personally, as a family, and as a community,” he said. The invitation to pray was extended directly to people serving in the Vatican, urging them to take part in the evening rosary in the Petrine Basilica at 7:00 pm.
A community prayer meeting, following recent initiatives in Rome by Catholic associations calling for peace in Gaza, has been scheduled for Saturday, 11 October.
“At 6:00 p.m. [. . .] we will recite the Holy Rosary together here in St Peter's Square, on the vigil of the Jubilee of Marian spirituality, also commemorating the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council." The announcement was greeted with an applause from the square.
Leo XIV, addressing Arabic speakers, in his greetings singled out students, both male and female, who are busy getting ready for the start of the new school year.
“I invite you to preserve your faith and nourish yourselves with science, for a better future, in which humanity can enjoy peace and tranquillity,” he said, at the time dedicated to greetings.
Today's catechesis, part of the Jubilee cycle on “Jesus Christ our Hope”, was centred on the “mystery of Holy Saturday”.
The relevant biblical passage, read at the start in various languages, focused on the theme of “Descent. In the Spirit ‘he also went to preach to the spirits in prison’ (1 Pt 3:19).”
Holy Saturday “is the day of the Paschal Mystery in which everything seems immobile and silent, while in reality an invisible action of salvation is being fulfilled,” Leo explained. “Christ descends into the realm of the dead to bring the news of the Resurrection to all those who were in the darkness and in the shadow of death.”
This descent “represents the most profound and radical gesture of God’s love for humanity,” the pope added. Since Jesus “died for us,” it becomes “necessary to recognize that the fidelity of his love sought us out where we ourselves were lost”.
In the Bible, the underworld “is not so much a place as an existential condition” where “pain, solitude, guilt and separation from God and others reign,” the pontiff said. “Christ reaches us even in this abyss, passing through the gates of this realm of darkness,” he added.
God “enters, so to speak, in the very house of death, to empty it, to free its inhabitants, taking them by the hand one by one.” For the Apostle Peter, “Jesus, made alive in the Holy Spirit, went to take the news of salvation even ‘to the spirits in prison’ (1Pt 3:19).”
This “is one of the most moving images,” found not in the canonical Gospels, but in an apocryphal text.
Christ’s “descent” takes place at present as well. “The underworld is not only the condition of the dead, but also of those who live death as a result of evil and sin. It is also the daily hell of loneliness, shame, abandonment, and the struggle of life.”
With his love, the Father descends into the underworld, “Not to blame, but to save. He does so quietly, on tiptoe, like one who enters a hospital room to offer comfort and help.”
“The Lord descends where man has hidden out of fear, and calls him by name, takes him by the hand, raises him up, and brings him back to the light. He does so with full authority, but also with infinite gentleness, like a father with the son who fears that he is no longer loved.”
Leo ended the catechesis by addressing directly the listeners. “And if at times we seem to have hit rock bottom, let us remember: that is the place from which God is able to begin a new creation.” Descent is “the fulfilment of his love.” His creation is “made of people lifted up, hearts forgiven, tears dried.”
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