The first book with texts by Pope Leo XIV has been published by the Vatican.
Under the Italian title "La forza del Vangelo. La fede cristiana in 10 parole" (The power of the Gospel. The Christian faith in 10 words), the Vatican publishing house LEV published the book on Thursday.
The Italian publicist Lorenzo Fazzini, who is responsible for the publishing house's content at LEV, has compiled previously published papal texts in the book and organised them according to ten key words such as church, peace, hope and justice. Leo XIV wrote the foreword especially for the book.
In his foreword, the Pope quotes the Church Father Augustine: "The Church is made up of all those who live in harmony with their brothers and love their neighbours."
From this he concludes: "Christians can and must bear witness to this harmony, this fraternity, this closeness in today's world, which is characterised by numerous wars. This does not depend solely on our strength, but is a gift from above."
Church as a role model
According to the Pope, the Church can "embody the dream of a reconciled, harmonious and pacified humanity".
He goes on to write in the foreword: "We must look our world in the face: We can no longer accept structural injustices - the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer in return. Hatred and violence threaten to burst their banks and flood sloping terrain until misery spreads among the peoples: The will to communion, the mutual recognition of one another as brothers and sisters, is the antidote to all extremism.
Finally, Leo XIV wrote: "We can influence our time through our witness, through prayer to the Holy Spirit, that he may make us courageous men and women of contagious peace, who receive the grace of Christ and spread the fragrance of his charity and mercy throughout the world."