Pope Leo to diplomats: Church will always speak truth, work for justice

by CNS · Published May 17, 2025 · Updated May 17, 2025

Pope Leo XIV greets George Poulides, ambassador of Cyprus to the Holy See and dean of the Vatican diplomatic corps, during an audience with the Vatican diplomatic corps in the Apostolic Palace’s Clemetine Hall at the Vatican May 16, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

By Carol Glatz, CNS – The Catholic Church wants to reach out and embrace all people who need and yearn for truth, justice and peace, Pope Leo XIV said in his first meeting with the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.

“The church can never be exempted from speaking the truth about humanity and the world, resorting whenever necessary to blunt language that may initially create misunderstanding,” he said. “Yet truth can never be separated from charity, which always has at its root a concern for the life and well-being of every man and woman.”

In his May 16 speech to diplomats in the Clementine Hall, Pope Leo said, “Religions and interreligious dialogue can make a fundamental contribution to fostering a climate of peace.”

Therefore, “full respect for religious freedom in every country” is necessary since “it is difficult, if not impossible, to bring about the purification of the heart necessary for building peaceful relationships” without religious experience, he said.

“The pillars of the church’s missionary activity and the aim of the Holy See’s diplomacy,” he said, are peace, justice and truth.

“Peace is built in the heart and from the heart, by eliminating pride and vindictiveness and carefully choosing our words. For words too, not only weapons, can wound and even kill,” Pope Leo said.

“It is the responsibility of government leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies,” he said. “This can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman.”

Also, he said, “no one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.”

The third “pillar” of the church’s mission, he said, is truth.

“Truly peaceful relationships cannot be built, also within the international community, apart from truth,” he said. Where “ambiguous and ambivalent” words and “the virtual world, with its altered perception of reality, takes over unchecked, it is difficult to build authentic relationships, since the objective and real premises of communication are lacking.”

The Catholic Church will always seek to speak the truth and dedicate itself to lovingly serving others and protecting the life and well-being of everyone, he said.