What the Pope Said This Week

Jason Scott’s weekly review of Pope Leo XIV’s audiences –

12 November — General Audience: “The Resurrection of Christ and the Challenges of Today’s World”

At his Wednesday General Audience in St Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV explored how Easter spirituality animates fraternity and counters the modern slide into isolation:

“If we turn in on ourselves, we risk falling ill with loneliness, and even a narcissism that is concerned with others only out of self-interest. … When our daily interactions with others are genuine rather than mere polite formalities, we grow in joy and in love.”

He further insisted:

“To believe in the death and resurrection of Christ and to live paschal spirituality imbues life with hope and encourages us to invest in goodness. … Without relationships, which support and enrich us from the very beginning of our life, we would not be able to survive, grow or learn.”

Leo challenged believers to recognise that fraternity is not a soft ideal:

“When we coexist and live together, then our humanity is best fulfilled.”

13 November — Audience with Augustinian Monasteries & Conference on Children, Adolescents and AI

On Thursday morning the Pope met with the federation of Augustinian Monasteries in Italy, affirming:

“In a society so focused on outward appearances … your example of silent and hidden love helps others to rediscover the value of daily and discreet charity … free from the slavery of appearances.”

Later that same day at a conference on children, adolescents and artificial intelligence, he warned:

“Children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to manipulation through AI algorithms … It is essential that parents and educators be aware of these dynamics … Only by taking part … can minors approach the digital world as a means of strengthening their ability to make responsible choices.”

These two interventions show how Leo connects contemplative community life and formative mission in the digital age.

14 November — Address at the Pontifical Lateran University Inauguration

On Friday at the Pontifical Lateran University’s academic-year opening, Pope Leo advocated for scholarship as service:

“Academic training helps us to move away from self-referentiality and promotes a culture of reciprocity, otherness and dialogue … The goal of the educational and academic process … must be to form people who … build a new world, one of solidarity and fraternity.”

In an age where knowledge can become disconnected from meaning, he underscored that faith and reason are partners in shaping persons, institutions and society.

15 November — Encounter with the World of Cinema

In a special audience in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, Pope Leo addressed filmmakers and screen-writers, urging cinema to be a “workshop of hope”:

“Although cinema is now over a century old, it is still a young, dreamlike and somewhat restless art form … It is wonderful to see that when the magic light of cinema illuminates the darkness, it simultaneously ignites the eyes of the soul.”

“The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what ‘works’, but art opens up what is possible. Not everything has to be immediate or predictable. Defend slowness when it serves a purpose, silence when it speaks and difference when evocative.”

He added:

“Giving voice to the complex, contradictory and sometimes dark feelings that dwell in the human heart is an act of love.”

Leo reminded the audience that cinema is not passive entertainment; it carries meaning, dignity, invites reflection, and can shape culture.

Take-Away Points:

Fraternity is not optional; Pope Leo connects it directly to Easter hope and human flourishing.

The Church engages both the contemplative and the digital worlds: forming hearts and guiding youth.

Education for Leo is mission: his university address affirms that faith and reason together build a just society.

Culture matters deeply: in addressing cinema, Leo positions art, entertainment and media as spaces of hope and truth.

This week demonstrates how Leo blends interiority (community, study) and engagement (youth, culture) into one dynamic pastoral vision.

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