In the general audience of this Wednesday, May 6, in St. Peter’s Square, Leo XIV continued his cycle of catechesis on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, centering his reflection on the constitution Lumen gentium and on the eschatological dimension of the Church.
The Pope recalled that the mission of the Church does not consist in announcing itself, but in leading men toward Christ and toward the Kingdom of God, also warning against the risk of absolutizing ecclesial structures or letting oneself be absorbed solely by the immediate and passing aspects of earthly life.
Below we provide the complete words of Leo XIV:
Brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!
Today we pause on a part of ch. VII of the Constitution of the Second Vatican Council on the Church, and we meditate on one of its distinctive characteristics: the eschatological dimension.
Indeed, in this earthly history, the Church always walks oriented toward the final goal, which is the heavenly homeland. This is an essential dimension that, however, we often neglect or minimize, because we are too focused on what is immediately visible and on the more concrete dynamics of the life of the Christian community.
The Church is the people of God on the way in history; the end of all its action is the Kingdom of God (cf. LG, 9). Jesus began the Church precisely by announcing this Kingdom of love, justice, and peace (cf. LG 5).
For this reason, we are called to consider the communal and cosmic dimension of salvation in Christ, and to direct our gaze to that final horizon, in order to measure and evaluate everything from that perspective.
The Church lives in history at the service of the arrival of the Kingdom of God in the world. It announces to all and always the words of this promise, receives an anticipation in the celebration of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, puts into practice and experiences its logic in relationships of love and service.
Likewise, it knows that it is the place and means where union with Christ is realized “more closely” (LG, 48), and, at the same time, recognizes that salvation can be given by God in the Holy Spirit also outside its visible boundaries.
In this sense, the Constitution Lumen Gentium makes an important affirmation: the Church is the “universal sacrament of salvation” (LG, 48), that is, sign and instrument of that fullness of life and peace promised by God.
This means that it does not perfectly identify with the Kingdom of God, but is its seed and beginning, because the fulfillment will be given to humanity and to the cosmos only at the end. For this reason, believers in Christ walk through this earthly history, marked by the maturation of good but also by injustices and sufferings, without falling into illusions or despair: they live oriented by the promise received from “the One who makes all things new” (Rev 21:5).
Therefore, the Church carries out its mission between the “already” of the beginning of the Kingdom of God in Jesus, and the “not yet” of the promised and awaited fulfillment.
The Church guards a hope that illuminates the way, and also has the mission to pronounce clear words to reject everything that mortifies life and hinders its development, and to take a stand in favor of the poor, the exploited, the victims of violence and war, and all those who suffer in body and spirit (cf. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, no. 159).
Sign and sacrament of the Kingdom, the Church is the pilgrim people of God on earth that, starting from the final promise, reads and interprets the dynamics of history according to the Gospel, denouncing evil in all its forms and announcing, with words and deeds, the salvation that Christ wants to bring about for all humanity and his Kingdom of justice, love, and peace.
The Church, therefore, does not announce itself; on the contrary, in it everything must refer to salvation in Christ.
From this perspective, the Church is called to humbly recognize human fragility and the transience of its own institutions, which, even while serving the Kingdom of God, bear the image of this passing age (cf. LG, 48).
None of the ecclesial institutions can be absolutized; on the contrary, as they live in history and time, they are called to constant conversion, to the renewal of forms and to the reform of structures, to the continuous regeneration of relationships, so that they can truly respond to their mission.
In the horizon of the Kingdom of God, the relationship between Christians who are carrying out their mission today and all those who have already concluded their earthly existence and are in a state of purification or beatitude must also be understood.
Lumen gentium affirms that all Christians form a single Church, that there is a communion and a sharing of spiritual goods founded on the union with Christ of all believers, a fraterna sollicitudo between the earthly Church and the heavenly Church: that communion of saints which is experienced especially in the liturgy (cf. LG, 49-51).
By praying for the deceased and following in the footsteps of those who have already lived as disciples of Jesus, we too receive help on our journey and strengthen our worship of God: marked by the one Spirit and united in the one liturgy, together with those who have preceded us in faith, we praise and give glory to the Most Holy Trinity.
Let us thank the conciliar Fathers for reminding us of this so important and so beautiful dimension of our being Christians, and let us try to cultivate it in our lives.
I cordially greet the Spanish-speaking pilgrims, in particular the newly ordained priests of the Legionaries of Christ, their families and communities who accompany them.
Let us ask the Lord to give us a supernatural gaze on reality, so that, rooted in faith and with firm hope, we may know how to live oriented toward the Kingdom of God, without letting ourselves be absorbed by what is passing or by the difficulties of the way.
May the Holy Spirit grant us to recognize his presence in history, to serve others with love, and to be living signs of his salvation in the midst of the world. May God bless you