What the Pope Said Last Week

by Admin · March 2, 2026

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

Sunday, 22 February: Pastoral Visit & Angelus

On the First Sunday of Lent, Pope Leo XIV made a pastoral visit to the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Castro Pretorio, Rome, a church built by Pope Leo XIII with the help of St John Bosco, near Termini Station. In his homily, he reflected on Christ’s temptations in the desert and the drama of human freedom portrayed in Genesis:

“The human being is free to recognise and welcome the otherness of the Creator… To prevent this possibility, the serpent insinuates the presumption of being able to erase all difference between creatures and the Creator.”

He called the parish to be “leaven of the Gospel” in an area marked by contradictions, “the carefree spirit of those who come and go with all comforts, and those who have no roof over their heads.”

At the Angelus, he presented Lent as “a luminous path” where prayer, fasting and almsgiving help us “renew our cooperation with the Lord in the crafting of our lives as a unique masterpiece.” Quoting St Augustine, he urged: “Let us create space for silence by turning off televisions, radios and cell phones for a while.”

Marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Pope issued a heartfelt appeal:

“Every war is truly a wound inflicted upon the entire human family; it leaves in its wake death, devastation and a trail of pain that marks generations. Peace cannot be postponed. It is an urgent necessity… Let the weapons fall silent, let the bombings cease, let an immediate ceasefire be reached.”

Tuesday, 24 February: Message on Our Lady of Guadalupe

The Vatican released Pope Leo’s message to a Pastoral Theological Congress in Mexico reflecting on the Guadalupe apparition as a model of inculturation. He wrote that inculturation “is not a secondary concession or a mere pastoral strategy, but an intrinsic requirement of the Church’s mission.” However, he cautioned:

“Inculturation does not equate to a sacralisation of cultures… no culture, however valuable it may be, can simply be identified with Revelation or become the ultimate criterion of faith.”

He described La Morenita as “a lesson in divine pedagogy” where a culture is “assumed, purified and transfigured to become a place of encounter with Christ,” looking ahead to the 500th anniversary of the apparition.

Friday, 27 February: Conclusion of Spiritual Exercises

Pope Leo addressed the Roman Curia at the conclusion of their Lenten retreat in the Pauline Chapel, preached by Monsignor Erik Varden on St Bernard. He thanked the preacher for reflections that “will continue for a long time to be a source of blessing, of grace, of encounter with Jesus Christ.”

He shared how the retreat had touched him personally, noting Newman’s “Dream of Gerontius” and its meditation on death and judgement. Drawing from the inscription above the chapel, St Paul’s words “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain”, he concluded with Paul’s exhortation: “Let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ.”

Saturday, 28 February: Address to Spanish Seminarians

Pope Leo welcomed seminarians from four Spanish seminaries with their families, calling the seminary “a sign of hope for the Church.” He focused on cultivating “a supernatural view of reality,” quoting G.K. Chesterton:

“Take away the supernatural, and what remains is the unnatural.”

He warned against becoming “accustomed to the things of God without living from God” and used the image of trees that “die standing”, retaining their appearance while dry inside. True fruitfulness, he said, comes not from visible activity but from being “deeply rooted in God.” The foundation of priestly formation is simply “being with the Master.”

Take-Away Points:

• Baptism is dynamic: grace constantly accompanies our life, “freeing our freedom” to find fulfilment in love of God and neighbour.
• Lent invites us to craft our lives as “a unique masterpiece” through prayer, fasting and almsgiving — and by turning off our screens.
• “Peace cannot be postponed” — after four years of war in Ukraine, an immediate ceasefire and dialogue are urgently needed.
• Inculturation is essential to mission, but no culture can become the “ultimate criterion of faith” — Guadalupe shows culture purified by the Gospel.
• “Let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ” — St Paul’s exhortation from the Pauline Chapel retreat.
• “Take away the supernatural, and what remains is the unnatural” — seminarians must cultivate a supernatural view or risk “dying standing.”