What the Pope Said this Week

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

Wednesday, 11 March: General Audience — The Church as People of God

Pope Leo XIV continued his cycle of catecheses on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, turning this week to the second chapter of Lumen Gentium and its vision of the Church as the People of God.

He grounded the teaching in the covenant with Abraham, called to become a light for other nations, before tracing its fulfilment in Christ, who gathers into one body men and women of every nation. The Church’s unifying principle, he said, is not language, culture or ethnicity, but a single bond:

“All those who in faith look upon Jesus.”

This people can never close in on itself, he continued, since all of humanity is, in some way, oriented toward it. He quoted the theologian Henri de Lubac on the Church’s catholicity:

“The unique Ark of Salvation must welcome all human diversity into its vast nave… The seamless garment of Christ, it is also the garment of Joseph, with its many colours.”

In an age of conflict, he concluded, the Church’s diversity across nations, languages and cultures is itself a prophetic sign, “a reminder and prophecy of that unity and peace to which God the Father calls all his children.”

The audience ended with an appeal for Lebanon. Father Pierre El Raii, a Maronite parish priest in southern Lebanon, had that day been buried after being killed while rushing to help parishioners wounded in a bombing. The Pope noted that “el raii” means “the shepherd” in Arabic, and said Father Pierre “always stayed beside his people, with the love and sacrifice of Jesus the Good Shepherd.” He closed with a prayer:

“May the Lord grant that the blood he shed be a seed of peace for beloved Lebanon.”

He also renewed his call for prayer for civilians in Iran and throughout the Middle East.

Thursday, 12 March: Address to the Cattedra dell’Accoglienza

The following morning, Pope Leo addressed participants in the Fourth Cattedra dell’Accoglienza, a Welcome Conference organised by the Fraterna Domus association of Sacrofano, Rome, dedicated this year to young people. He built his address around two words he said illuminated the Christian meaning of welcome: presence and care.

On the presence of Jesus, he reflected on Mary and Joseph searching for the young Jesus in Jerusalem, saying the episode reveals that genuine presence is never automatic. The same dynamic plays out in the life of faith:

“We take for granted the presence of Jesus in our existence, until unexpectedly it seems that He is no longer where we left Him… Seeking Jesus means moving from the security of our convictions to the responsibility of encounter, learning to see and welcome the presence of God who is always ‘beyond’.”

On care, he held up Saint Joseph as the model of guardianship, drawing on Psalm 121’s image of God as the keeper who neither slumbers nor sleeps. Presence and guardianship, he said, are inseparable:

“It is not possible to guard without being present, and one is not present without assuming responsibility for the other.”

Take-Away Points:

– The Church is “the assembly of all those who in faith look upon Jesus,” united not by culture or language but by faith alone.

– The Church’s diversity is a “reminder and prophecy” of the unity and peace God wills for all humanity.

– Genuine presence is never automatic; it requires constant searching, in human relationships and in faith alike.

– Presence and guardianship are inseparable: “It is not possible to guard without being present.”

– Young people are not the Church’s future; their questions and concerns are already shaping its present.

– Father Pierre El Raii died as he lived, rushing to the wounded — a true shepherd whose blood would be “a seed of peace for beloved Lebanon.”

Sources:

2026-03-11 (General Audience) – https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2026/03/11/260311a.html

2026-03-12 (Cattedra dell’Accoglienza) – https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2026/03/12/260312c.html