MEETING WITH THE STAFF AND SICK COMMUNITY OF ACCUEIL NOTRE DAME ADDRESS OF POPE LEO XIV Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes Sunday, 27 September 2026

Dear brothers and sisters,

Dear friends who are sick,

It is a joy for me to be with you here in Lourdes, where, for more than a hundred and fifty years, pilgrims from every corner of the world have come to entrust their physical, psychological and spiritual sufferings to Jesus through Mary.  

Indeed, fragility is not hidden here; instead it becomes the place of a sacred encounter.

This year, the pastoral theme of the Sanctuary is the greeting of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you” (Lk 1:28).  This emphasizes the remarkable exchange between the gaze of the Lord’s messenger and Mary’s.  

In this encounter, the humility and generosity of a young woman allowed God to accomplish his work of salvation.  Mary did not keep the Lord for herself, but offered him to the world, saying to each of us, “The Lord is with you.”  

This truth is the foundation of our dignity as persons.  And here, Mary looks upon each one of us as a unique person, as Saint Bernadette testified during the apparitions at the grotto. This maternal gaze reminds us once more that no one is invisible in God’s eyes.

At a time when some societies are inclined to look aside or close their eyes to the dignity of human life, we need first of all “to foster, in ourselves and in others, a contemplative outlook… It is the outlook of those who see life in its deeper meaning, who grasp its utter gratuitousness, its beauty and its invitation to freedom and responsibility.  It is the outlook of those who do not presume to take possession of reality but instead accept it as a gift, discovering in all things the reflection of the Creator and seeing in every person his living image (cf. Gen 1:27; Ps 8:5).  

This outlook… is open to perceiving in the face of every person a call to encounter, dialogue and solidarity” (Saint John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 83), so that the world may have life.

In the dialogue of the Annunciation, as the Lord gazes upon her, Mary discovers that she is God’s chosen one.  Yet, at the heart of this encounter, it is each one of us who discovers that we too are personally called and profoundly destined for the love of God, who is the source of life.  

The human person is “worthy” simply by virtue of existing and of being destined for eternity.  Our dignity cannot be measured or debated.

I know that for some of you, because of particular illnesses and, at times, terrible pain, your horizon may appear dark, uncertain and without hope.  But no human law should ever make you lose the certainty of your dignity.  

On the contrary, it is precisely in the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person that we must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion.  It is impossible to regard causing death as something normal.  What is legal is not necessarily moral.

Here in Lourdes, the city of the sick and of hope, I appeal to the entire healthcare community to remember the profound meaning of your vocation, which is to care for a suffering person, not to eliminate that person.  

Yes, dear friends, be passionate servants of life.  No one ever has the right “on the basis of laboratory algorithms, to decide the life of a given embryo or elderly person!  Medicine must never become the servant of programmed death!” (Address to the Members of the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, 22 June 2026).  In this regard, I urge you resolutely to develop structures for palliative care and research.  

At the same time, I urge you to accompany the sick with the tenderness that we see here in Lourdes, where doctors, nurses, stretcher-bearers, chaplains, pastoral teams serving the sick, and so many others live out their vocation in the service of the dignity of the human person, so that the world may have life.  In caring for bodies, you also bind up wounded souls.  

To you, dear members of the hospitality groups, and to the healthcare workers who devote yourselves to serving your brothers and sisters, I express my deepest gratitude.

Dear brothers and sisters who are sick, I want to tell you that you are not a burden.  You are the beating heart of our humanity and a precious treasure for the Church.  I carry in my prayers the trials you are going through.  

My thoughts are also with all those who cannot be here and who, from their homes or hospital rooms, are united with us in this gathering.  I entrust all of you to the maternal love of the Mother of the Lord, asking her to obtain for you the consolations of her Son Jesus.  May God bless and protect you.

Joint statement from Archbishop Eamon Martin and Archbishop John McDowell on situation at Drumcree

As Archbishops and Pastors in our different Christian traditions, we have always taken seriously our call, in Christ, to speak and act together when we can. 

We do this because we share the conviction that the greatest commandment, and the greatest witness anyone can give to the Gospel in our world today, is in love of God and love of neighbour.

As our community faces the crisis in Drumcree today, in which so many sincere views, painful histories and important issues are at stake, we cannot think of any time in the last thirty years when this simple message needs to be more urgently heard. How can we be good neighbours to each other? 

What can we do to patiently, constructively and positively build on all the sincere and generous efforts over recent years to foster mutual trust and understanding among our different traditions?

Respect for the rule of law, and use of peaceful and democratic processes are vital to a stable and democratic society, even when they are difficult and challenging. 

As Christians, we are also called to ask ourselves what is generous, what is neighbourly, what builds up peace and the common good among us? 

As disciples of Jesus, our golden rule calls us to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile and ultimately, to ensure that love of God and neighbour is the core value that determines all our actions and decisions.

As Church leaders, we are profoundly aware of our own failings and inadequacies. Imperfect as we may be, we feel deeply the concerns of the people of Drumcree and the wider community that we serve.

We are willing to do all that we are asked to guide the feet of all, in the name, and after the example of Jesus, on the way of peace, and the building up of a better future for all. 

We call for the urgent creation of a constructive, inclusive and reconciling initiative to patiently find a way through this current crisis. 

Too much is at stake.

Bishop Coll: Frank Duff’s vision was for our hearts and minds to be more Christ-like

Frank Duff saw something that the Church had sometimes forgotten. He saw that baptism is not simply something we receive. It is a calling.

In 1922, in an ordinary room in Dublin, Frank Duff gathered a small group of Catholics who wanted to deepen their prayer and serve those most in need.  

From that small beginning came the Legion of Mary, a movement that would spread throughout the world.

But Frank Duff’s greatest achievement was not founding an organisation. It was the vision of the Church that lay behind it.

He believed that ordinary men and women, through baptism, had a real part to play in the mission of Christ. He believed that prayer should lead to service. He believed that devotion to Our Lady should lead us more deeply into the life of her Son. And he believed that when ordinary people allow Christ to work through them, extraordinary things can happen.

In that sense, Frank Duff was ahead of his time. Decades before the Church began speaking so much about synodality, he was already putting into practice something very close to its heart: that the Church is not simply something we receive from others, but something in which all the baptised share. We walk together. We pray together. We listen to one another. We discern together. And we share in the mission of Christ.

That vision is already there in today’s second reading. Saint Paul says: “Be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind.” And then he goes deeper: “In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus.”

That, I think, is the heart of Frank Duff’s vision. Not simply that we should do good things. Not simply that we should keep an organisation going.  Not even simply that we should work together. But that our minds and hearts should gradually become like the mind and heart of Christ.

Because when that happens, everything changes. We begin to look at people differently. We begin to see the person who is lonely, the person who has lost faith, the person who is struggling, the person who is homeless, the person who has been forgotten.

We stop asking, “What do I get from this?” And begin asking, “What does this person need?” That is what Saint Paul means when he says: “Let nobody think of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead.” That is not easy.

We live in a world that constantly tells us to put ourselves first. Protect yourself. Promote yourself.  Make your voice heard. Look after your own interests. Saint Paul gives us another way.  The way of Christ. And Frank Duff understood that this way of Christ could not be left to priests and religious alone.

Every baptised person has a vocation. Every baptised person has gifts. Every baptised person has a part to play in the mission of Christ. That was a remarkable conviction in 1922. And it remains remarkable today.

The Legion was never simply about getting people to do more things. At its heart was the formation of disciples. Prayer came first. The Word of God. The Eucharist. The Rosary. Devotion to Our Lady. The life of grace.

And then, from that prayer, came service. The Legionary went out to the home, the hospital, the prison, the person who was forgotten or neglected. The Legionary welcomed the homeless to the hostel.

Prayer led to mission. And mission always led back to prayer. Perhaps that is something we need to hear again today.

The Church does not need people who are simply busy. It needs people who are becoming like Christ. People whose prayer changes the way they see others.  People whose faith changes the way they live. People who can bring the presence of Christ into places where Christ is no longer recognised.

And perhaps there is nowhere better to hear that than here in Knock. Mary stands here in silence.  She does not draw attention to herself. She points beyond herself to Christ. That is why devotion to Mary can never be an end in itself. Mary always leads us to her Son.

And the closer we come to Christ, the more we become like the woman who stood beneath the Cross, who waited in hope, who received the Spirit and who gave herself completely to the mission of God. That is the Marian spirit Frank Duff wanted the Legion to embody. And it is why his vision still has something important to say to the Irish Church.

We are living through a time of profound change. Many people have drifted from faith. Some have lost trust in the Church. Many young people have little connection with the Gospel. We cannot simply wish ourselves back into another time. But neither should we imagine that renewal will come simply from new programmes, new structures or new plans.

Renewal begins in people. It begins when baptised men and women discover again who they are. When prayer becomes real. When faith becomes visible in the way we live. When ordinary Catholics stop seeing themselves as spectators and begin to recognise that they are participants in the mission of Christ. That was Frank Duff’s conviction.

And perhaps today the question for us is not simply: “What can we do for the Legion?” It is a deeper question: “Is the mind of Christ becoming our mind?” Do we seek unity or do we hold on to our own way? Do we serve or do we need to be recognised? Do we make room for others? Can we listen? Can we work with people who are different from us? Do we see the person in front of us as someone to be loved, rather than someone to be judged?

And when our prayer here today is finished and we leave this shrine, will anything be different because we have been here? That is the challenge.

Frank Duff did not set out simply to create an organisation that would survive.

He wanted to form disciples. Men and women whose lives would be shaped by Christ. Men and women who would pray deeply, serve generously and live humbly. Men and women who would understand that the mission of the Church belongs to all the baptised.

That vision began in a small room in Dublin. It has travelled across the world. And today it brings us here to Knock.

So perhaps the most fitting prayer we can make here is a very simple one. Not: “Mary, make the Church successful.” But: “Mary, make us more like your Son.” Give us His mind. Give us His humility.  Give us His compassion.  Give us His courage.  And then send us out.

Because if we truly allow Christ to form our minds and hearts, we will not need to ask whether the Church can be renewed. We will become part of that renewal. “In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus.”

May those words shape the way we pray, the way we serve and the way we live.

And through the intercession of Our Lady, may the Legion of Mary continue to do what Frank Duff dreamed it would do: bring ordinary people closer to Christ and bring Christ closer to the world.  Amen.

A Response To : Bishop McGuckian urges Belfast City hall to reconsider illumination in support of abortion

We recently posted the article Bishop McGuckian urges Belfast City hall to reconsider illumination in support of abortion, and we received some responses, and the following is one we feel deserves to be published publicly.....

Dear Alan, 

 

I considered the  view you expressed in this letter to the Council with perplexity published.

While I do not personally agree with abortion, I firmly believe that it is every woman’s right to make that choice for herself, and it is not my place to judge others. Albeit I personally would assist any women to continue their pregnancy and protect life at all costs.

Giving this stance, it is to be regretted that you have not been as active in protecting the thousands of babies buried in the Mass Graves at the bottom of Milltown Cemetery. Or may I say protect the infants who died in the care of clergy from Starvation and its related illness's. What position do you take on that issue?

In fact, since you have taken office, there has not been one word to all those families including mine fighting to protect these graves. While the Diocese you are head of rake in the money selling mass graves that include hundreds of infants to innocent RC families.

Our church has shown us in the past and the present, that they cannot be trusted to protect our dead or dying. 

Siubhainin Ni Chutnneagam & Families

 

CW : Well now Bishop McGuckian, would you care to respond?? 

Largest archdiocese of Europe and its archbishop

Three special features are related to the Milan Archbishop Mario Delpini. One is that he is at the head of by far the largest archdiocese of Europe with its nearly five million Catholics. 

The other: He is not a cardinal, but the bishop's chair of Milan has historically been since the end of the 19. Century always very closely associated with the cardinalate. 

Delpini's predecessors included Giovanni Battista Montini, the later Pope Paul VI, as well as the cardinals Giovanni Colombo, Carlo Maria Martini, Dionigi Tettamanzi and Angelo Scola. With Pius XI (1922–1939) and Paul VI (1963–1978), this cardinal tradition on the Archbishop's Chair of Milan in the past century even produced two popes within a short time.

However, in several cardinal surveys under Pope Francis (2013–2025), the name of Delpini, who has been in office as archbishop since 2017, was not on the list. This was particularly attracted in 2022, when Francis raised the bishop of neighboring Como, Oscar Cantoni, to be a cardinal. 

At a celebration for the new cardinal, Delpini made ironic remarks about the great and significant Milan and the significantly smaller Como. Why did the Pope choose the Bishop of Como and not the Archbishop of Milan? 

Perhaps, Delpini joked, Francis had thought that the Archbishop of Milan already had enough to do anyway. In addition, he alluded to the fact that no one knew exactly what Jesuits thought; Francis himself belonged to the Jesuit Order.

Irony or criticism?

A Criticism of Francis' Decision? At least it was partly understood that way. In the Italian media, the remarks turned into a not insignificant controversy. While confidant Delpinis referred to his well-known dry humor, the remarks elsewhere were interpreted as inappropriate criticism against the pope, or even as an expression of a certain insult. Delpini finally found himself prompted for clarification. 

Speaking to the chaplains of his mega-diocese, he explained: "I wanted to be a little funny in my greetings for a dear friend, but this intention has not been understood." 

At the same time, he emphasized that he did not want to become a cardinal himself and to be completely in agreement with the decisions and criteria of the Pope.

However, the story was not quite over yet. A few days later, the chairman of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Bologna’s Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, also took up the debate. 

At an event at the Catholic University in Milan, he jokingly initiated a remark with the words "As Cardinal Delpini said..." – and thus caused laughter and applause. Delpini himself had already left the hall at that time. 

In Italian media, Zuppi's remark was finally understood as an attempt to defuse the heated debate with humor.

But back to the special features. The third: Delpini had to his 75. Birthday submitted his resignation according to the regulations – but Pope Leo XIV did not initially respond. 

Now the archdiocese declared that the head of the church had accepted the resignation with the formula "nunc pro tunc" (now for then). In concrete terms, this means that Delpini will continue to head the largest archdiocese of Europe for about a year. 

According to the decision of Pope Leo XIV, he is now to remain in office until the introduction of his successor. The aforementioned Bishop of Como, Cardinal Cantoni, who became 76 at the beginning of September, also remains at the head of his diocese at least until the end of the year.

Five million people

But how is such a mega-diocese as the one in Milan? The figures include more than 2,000 diocesan priests, about 1,000 religious and more than 8,000 religious women. 

According to its own information on the Diocese website, it covers an area of 4,234 km2 and includes the Italian provinces of Milan, Varese, Lecco and Monza-Brianza, part of the province of Como and some municipalities of the provinces of Bergamo and Pavia. 

More than five million Catholics live in this entire area, which belongs to the Milan Archdiocese. It consists of more than 1,100 parishes, spread over 73 deans and organized in seven pastoral zones.

How does this work? 

An archdiocese like Milan cannot be ruled from the archbishop's desk. Delpini is therefore based on a distinct middle management level: the archdiocese is divided into seven pastoral zones, each coordinated by an episcopal vicar. 

On the level below follow dean's offices and increasingly larger pastoral communities. The vicars keep in touch with the base, prepare visits and carry up problems.

Delpini himself sets personal accents with pastoral visits – less as a controller, but as an archbishop who listens and shows presence. This is also evident in his own texts, which can be found in his speeches and sermons on the website of the Archdiocese : Repeatedly he describes pastoral visitation as an opportunity to tell the churches personally, "voi mi siete cari" and "voi mi state a cuore" - "you are important to me, you are close to my heart". 

At the same time, he understands the visitation as an opportunity to listen together to what the respective church has given up for the present and the future. That he knows this huge apparatus should help him: Before he became archbishop in 2017, he was himself a vicar in such a pastoral zone, auxiliary bishop and finally vicar general of Milan.

"Laboratorium gelebter Synodalität"

The archdiocese’s organizational manual alone gives an impression of the dimension: the “Guida della Diocesi”, which was reissued in 2025, has 1,232 pages – certainly not a browser for in between. 

However, this apparatus is not only governed from above. Delpini includes priests and lay people through counseling bodies such as the diocesan pastoral council, which he himself describes as a "laboratory of lived synodality." 

Church synodally set, Delpini stands out in public through a mixture of restraint, self-deprecation, literary education and partly dry humor. So no ordinary clergyman. The churchman maintains an institutional but content-distanced and often critical attitude towards politics. 

Although his criticism does not apply to individual parties, it does apply to rhetorical patterns and content that are often associated with the right-wing political camp.

An example of this was the European elections in 2019, when Delpini said that the issue of migration of politicians would be turned into a "sumbren of slogans for electoral purposes" and used to mobilize fears. 

At that time, the churchman stated in the much-read Catholic magazine "Famiglia Cristiana": "If the admission of migrants is described by some political representatives as a danger to society, they quickly assume that the Pope does not have the good of Italy and Europe in the sense."

In 2022, for example, after the election victory of the right-wing coalition in Italy, the archbishop described the victory as a democratic "turnaround", but the then new government around Giorgia Meloni urged to take responsibility for the common good. 

There was sharper criticism at the time of the "high political disenchantment" and the "low turnout." On the subject of right-wing populism outside Italy, the churchman also raised his voice. 

In the spring of this year, for example, he criticized US President Donald Trump after his verbal attacks against the Catholic Church and the Pope, according to the news agency Ansa. 

"It's sad for the American people that they have to be ashamed of their president," Delpini said.

Now, after nine years at the head of such a mega-diocese, is there to be an end? 

Seemingly not yet. For the management of such an entity requires experience – and Delpini had it before he himself became archbishop. 

Pope Leo does not seem to want to do without it for the time being. He leaves Delpini in office for at least another year until a successor is found and introduced. 

The search process is to be carried out after his 76th birthday, according to the Vatican.

Until then, at the head of the largest archdiocese in Europe, a man who knew his structures for a long time before he led them himself remains.

ANGELUS Prairie of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes Sunday, 27 September 2026

Dear brothers and sisters,

I greet with affection all of you who have taken part in this Eucharistic celebration.  Thank you for being here.  I also extend my greeting to those who are following the celebration from afar, especially the sick.

We will now pray the Angelus together, that simple and beautiful prayer which helps us each day to live in faithful obedience to God’s will, following the example of the Virgin Mary.

Before we do so, I would like to make an appeal that is particularly close to my heart, here in this place.  It was here that the Immaculate Virgin appeared to Saint Bernadette with the rosary and, as it were, guided her in prayer.  For this reason, today I invite all the faithful and all Christian communities to pray the holy rosary throughout the coming month of October, with the particular intention that wars may cease and that peace may be established among peoples in conflict.  Let us accompany this prayer with concrete acts of penance and mercy, committing ourselves always to fostering dialogue and reconciliation.

May our most holy Mother intercede for us!

HOMILY OF POPE LEO XIV Prairie of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes Sunday, 27 September 2026

Brothers and sisters, pilgrims from France and from throughout the world, in seeing you gathered here this morning in our Mother’s home, I see the universal face of the Church.  Some of you have crossed continents, traveled far, and brought your joys and burdens to this sacred grotto.  What a joy it is to be together, as one heart and one family.

I would especially like to greet the pilgrims who have come from every province and diocese of France.  Today you stand on this blessed ground that has received so many graces.  May this pilgrimage rekindle the flame of faith in your homes and parishes.  Take the consolation of Lourdes back to your neighbors, your loved ones and the whole French people.

This Sunday’s readings touch on a central part of the message that the Virgin Mary entrusted to Saint Bernadette: the call to conversion, both tender and urgent.  In the Gospel, Jesus looks with truth and deep sorrow upon hearts that have remained closed, “you did not repent” (Mt 21:32).  Why does this wound the heart of Christ?  Because God does not want his children to be lost.  The prophet Ezekiel reminds us, “When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die for it.”  However, since “he considered and turned away from all the transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die” (Ez 18:26, 28).  

This is why the call to repentance runs through Sacred Scripture and the preaching of the Gospel down the centuries.  Its gravity reminds us of the urgency and necessity of conversion.  It is today, not tomorrow, that we must repent.  Indeed, now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation (cf. 2 Cor 6:2).  God wants us to live, to open our eyes and return to him.  To repent is to leave the paths on which we lost our way, and to follow the way of life, opening our hearts to the sole joy that never passes away.

Jesus himself is quite direct in calling us to repentance.  As Saint Luke tells us, “Unless you repent, you will all perish” (Lk 13:5).  But he also extends our horizon beyond this earthly life to the horizon of eternal life.  For while happiness in this world is fleeting and relative, and sadly sometimes out of reach for some, true happiness is promised to everyone in hope, and this is what we should seek above all else, in all our efforts and choices.  Did not the Virgin Mary say to Saint Bernadette, “I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the next”?

This promise, made right here, has a particular force in this land of France, and it challenges the way we think today.  In an age and society that seek progress and material wellbeing, but can sometimes forget the horizon of eternity, Mary comes to remind us of the greatness and richness of our calling to life, to eternal life.  In the face of current trends that seek to redefine the value of human life in illness, suffering and old age, the grotto of Massabielle stands as a place of Christian hope.  Here, no one is turned away due to their frailty.  Your crutches, your wheelchairs and your hidden tears are not obstacles; instead, they are the very place where you are fully respected and welcomed, and where you can experience a transforming encounter with the infinite love of God.  Lourdes is blessed as a place for professing the beauty and sanctity of life, for life is welcomed here as a precious gift from God, and is called to flourish for ever in the love of the Father.

“I promise you!”  Indeed, eternal life is a firm and certain promise that the Lord makes to us.  He has already won it for us by his death on the cross and his resurrection, and through the grace of baptism he is bringing it to fulfilment in us each day.  It is within our reach, but we must freely welcome it, take hold of it and not stand in its way.  For the obstacle to grace and eternal life — the only obstacle to this love — is sin, whereby we turn in upon ourselves, refusing God and shutting ourselves up in our own darkness.  Our personal responsibility therefore comes into play, and a great responsibility it is.  God has made us free, since freedom is necessary for love; no one can be forced to love.  We must therefore use our freedom to say yes to Christ, relying on his grace, like Mary.  This is a yes that we renew until our final breath — “now and at the hour of our death” — as we say in the Hail Mary.

We hear the same urgent call to conversion in the words which Mary spoke right here, “Penance! Penance! Penance!”  She repeats the word three times.  And she asks Bernadette to perform certain acts of penance.  Why?  Are we slow to understand?  Do we too easily think of ourselves without sin?  Do we not practice penance enough?  The Virgin asks us to do penance not only for ourselves, because we too need it, but also “for sinners,” for a world that is going astray.  How can our hearts not be moved by the conflicts that are spreading and destroying so many innocent lives?  Yet the evil of our time comes from the human heart.  God is not responsible for it. As he says to the Israelites, “Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?” (Ez 18:25).  It is therefore human hearts that must change, beginning with our own.

Penance is an act of love, carried out in solidarity with the human family. It is an act of love for God, because we want to make amends for the wounds our sins have dealt to his heart.  It is also an act of love for those brothers and sisters of ours who do not heed this call to conversion, and whose sins lead them towards death.  This call to conversion also concerns the Church herself as she makes her earthly journey.  She must have the courage to begin with herself.  In order to heal the deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors that have occurred within her, we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze.  Recognizing our own faults is essential to our spiritual growth.  As Saint Augustine wrote, “Do not be content with what you are, if you want to become what you are not yet” (Disc. 169, 15, 18).

Our Mother’s reminder of our duty to pray and repent fills us with great hope, because she shows us that the way to change the course of things is by uniting ourselves to the passion of Christ.  Dear friends who are sick, so many of you here in Lourdes are familiar with suffering.  You can live your trials and pains in this spirit of offering, and so take part in the redemptive work that the world so greatly needs.  In this way, you are truly at the heart of the Church, and your role is irreplaceable.

Pilgrims, brothers and sisters, you will not leave Lourdes as you arrived.  You will leave as missionaries of hope.  Indeed, the miracle of Lourdes is that it can awaken the joy of hope in the very midst of suffering and hardship.  The Virgin Mary heals our outlook and changes our hearts, giving them peace.  In your countries, dioceses and families, become living witnesses to this divine strength and tenderness, which help us to persevere towards our goal.  Sustained by the prayers of the sick and the love of our Mother, walk with confidence into the future.  Do not be afraid of the storms of the world, for the holy Mother of God watches over your journey, she shelters the Church beneath her mantle of tenderness and, as the radiant Morning Star, guides your steps, so that with joy she may bring you to new birth in the very life of her Son Jesus.  Amen.

Don’t abandon the Church of England (Opinion)

It has been a torrid season for the Church of England. 

There seems to be no end to the increase of its litany of errors and misjudgements.

We have seen Lambeth Palace carelessly award an interfaith prize on the anniversary of 9/11 to a Muslim cleric who praised Osama bin Laden, and the Archbishop of Canterbury herself (who just a few months ago promised to challenge misogyny) photographed talking apparently unconcerned to the cleric’s wife, who was arrayed in the oppressive niqab face covering.  

Her first months in office also saw her uncritically repeating destructive lines about Palestinian victimhood and allowing herself to be photographed with alleged supporters of the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine, and in front of a portrait of Gamal Nasser, a senior PLO leader who was reputedly one of the organisers of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre of Israeli athletes.

Things are not much better on the bishops’ bench more widely. The Bishop of Lincoln has just resigned following allegations of sexual assault. 

The Bishop of Liverpool did likewise in the same circumstances last year, and the Bishop of Salisbury has “stepped back from ministry” following an investigation into financial misconduct and safeguarding concerns.  

Around a quarter of diocesan bishoprics are now vacant or overseen by acting bishops, as the creaking Church machinery takes months or even years to find possible candidates for enthronement. Given that the Church is at the same time cutting back on the funds given to training new clergy, this task is hardly going to get easier.

Indeed, the number of new ordinations has plummeted, and the number of priests in stipendiary ministry (6,682 in May 2026, compared with 14,603 in 1960) is at a historic low. 

Parishes are under greater pressure than ever before to share clergy and to amalgamate, so that vicars now have to tend ever larger flocks. Lay people are being asked to take on the work usually done by ordained clergy, as the vicars evolve into being distant managers, or “oversight ministers”.  

This distortion of their mission, with attendant pressures of overwork, increased bureaucracy and underpayment, is having a terrible effect on their morale.  

Recent survey evidence shows that nearly a third are reporting signs of possible mild to clinical depression, forty percent feel isolated, and only 3.9 percent see current church leadership as a “source of hope”.

Indeed, whilst parishes struggle at the local level, the diocesan and central bureaucracies grow.  

There is now around one bureaucrat for every 3.5 front-line stipendiary priests (the average for charities is one bureaucrat for every eight front-line staff). 

 These bureaucracies, which administer the historic funds that were laid down to support the cure of souls, parish ministry and cathedrals, are now diverting ever more of this income to their own perpetuation and other political purposes.

Recent analysis by Save the Parish shows that in 2024, only 13 percent of the income of the Church Commissioners (£85 million out of £653 million) reached the parishes, despite this being the primary purpose of the Commissioners’ existence.  

Ever more money is finding its way to matters – for example eco-initiatives, racial justice work based on divisive ideas of critical theory, and perhaps even £100 million for slavery reparations through the historically, legally and morally unjustified Project Spire — that are removed from the church’s first function, the cure of souls.

For example, a friend was recently puzzled to receive a slick email from a dedicated eco-official in the diocesan offices which suggested the faithful go on a “litter-picking pilgrimage”. 

Why, my friend wondered, was their diocese paying for a bureaucrat to send this sort of stuff out on a regular basis, whilst putting pressure on their parish to amalgamate and accept cuts to clergy numbers?

As each of these errors and follies are visited on us, usually by the Church hierarchy, it is perhaps no surprise that the remaining faithful of the Church of England are visited by temptations to abandon it. “Come to Rome” say kindly-meaning souls on social media. “I can’t take any more of this” mutter ever more of the long-suffering adherents themselves, pledging to take their donations, not to mention their persons elsewhere. “Let’s disestablish the whole thing” resolve even those who were once well-disposed.

Things are not beyond redemption, and there is much you can do to recover the Church out of these many waters

To those who are tempted in the face of these manifold afflictions to walk away, to give up, to shake off the heavy burdens of toil which many of you may have put in to aid the Church in its mission, or even to those of you who have simply voiced support for the institution when it was in better shape, I say hold on. 

Do not abandon the Church, and those who rely on it, in these times of trouble. Things are not beyond redemption, and there is much you can do to recover the Church out of these many waters.

Before anything, consider how precious is the institution of the Church, this “goodly heritage”, as the psalmist says. It is the institution which, for hundreds of years, has brought to the English people the message of Christian faith. It offered them the scriptures and liturgy in their own language in versions of such scholarship and majesty – the King James Bible, the Book of Common Prayer – that it ended up moulding the forms and substance not only of our literature – its poetry, drama, novels – but even the character of the language itself. 

Under the influence of its message, and social presence, so much of what we take for granted has been forged or deeply influenced: not just our language and literature, but our traditions of music, of education, our calendar, our architecture, our landscape, our political culture with its tendencies towards tolerance, independent-mindedness and the capacity for loyal opposition, our ethics, our social cohesion, and our deep-rooted tendency towards charity.

Of much of this, the Church of England is still the steward. The Church still oversees around 15,000 places of worship. Many of these are not just historical artefacts (around half of the country’s grade-one listed buildings are churches) but also active places of prayer and charity, supporting food banks, night shelters, social work for the disadvantaged, marginalised and lonely.

According to HM Treasury’s own methodology, the annual value of the social contribution of the churches is around £55 billion per year — and this despite the many pressures that are put on them and their volunteers: the loss of VAT rebates on restoring listed places of worship, the increasing bureaucratic burdens from the church and also burdensome legislation such as Martyn’s Law. 

The Church, in these terms, is still a tremendous force for good — and if it were flourishing, imagine how much more it could be a benefit in these ways. One should not abandon all this for the tiresome folly of its leadership.

If any of this is worth something, if you think that a healthy Church of England is a part of a healthy society at large, then it behoves you not to walk away, but to stay and support it. Everyone who reads this is in a position to made a profound difference to the future of the Church. There are many things within your power.

First, go to church. Attend a service. Pray. Donate. Do not hold back out of irritation at the wrong-headed profligacy of Project Spire or the bureaucrats in offices. Make friends with the congregation, and offer to help. Anything from sweeping the floor, dealing with the paperwork, serving tea, supporting your overworked vicar, getting involved in any of the charitable endeavours that the church might offer. 

Be there not just to serve your fellows, but for the church itself, so that no prowling archdeacon or Church Commissioner can say that the church is under-supported and call for its closure.

Once you are actively supporting your church, you have the locus to help it stand in the way of these threats. If the diocese comes calling to amalgamate your parishes, to confiscate the vicarage and even sell off your church, say no. Question why the precious funds are going the way of net zero bureaucrats and Project Spire, rather than more clergy. 

 Challenge needless regulations. Tell the senior leaders that they need to look after the welfare of their clergy and volunteers properly, and also to make sure that the income from endowments gets to the parishes where it is needed, rather than foundering in the sands of administration or politicised initiatives.

At this very moment, if you have a vote in the current election for the General Synod, or know anyone who has a vote by virtue of serving on local deanery synods (the vote ends on 13 October), urge them to vote for candidates who clearly support the Save the Parish Manifesto, which seeks such protection for clergy, volunteers, and the proper use of historic endowments (declaration of interest — I am standing in the Exeter diocese). 

A strong return of Save the Parish candidates will make a great difference to how the church stewards its people and its patrimony.

The preservation and reinvigoration of the Church is worth your time and energy

The preservation and reinvigoration of the Church is worth your time and energy. If it is allowed to decay into a further morass of maladministration and incompetence, there will come a time — and it may not be long — where parliament decides to cut it loose by disestablishment. 

And when it does so, there will be nothing to hold it back from seizing the historic endowments which are helping to keep its work, its infrastructure and its charity afloat, and using it for whatever other purposes the government desires.

Some may think this is a liberation, but if it happens, and the church buildings are sold off by their thousands for want of funds, the clergy turned away from their vicarages in droves, and the light of the Christian message that has shone for centuries on our public life and discourse is extinguished in an instant, then it may be too late to realise that this is the broad way that leads to destruction. 

Follow instead the strait gate of effort to keep the Church established and in place — get to yours on Sunday, and offer to make the tea for starters.

Priest who was wounded at a Polish monastery asked people to pray for the suspect

Father Adrian, who was injured during the attack on the monastery in Jarosław, Poland, addressed the faithful two days after the tragedy. 

He called on them to pray for the late Father Stanisław, the other victims, and the suspect himself, and asked that they not blame all Ukrainians for the actions of a single individual. 

The priest also stated that he forgives the man suspected of the attack. 

Father Adrian, who was injured during the attack on the monastery in the Polish city of Jarosław, called on the faithful to pray not only for the victims of the tragedy but also for the suspect himself. 

He delivered his sermon two days after the attack. The priest appeared before the congregation wearing a bandage and showing signs of injuries on his face. 

During his address, he asked people to pray for the late Father Stanislav, the other wounded, and the man suspected of the attack.

“He needs this prayer the most,” said Father Adrian. The priest also stated that he personally forgives the suspect. “From this place, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I want to say very clearly—on my own behalf, on behalf of Father Marek, and on behalf of Father Stanislav—that we forgive!” he emphasized.

The priest asked that Ukrainians not be blamed

Separately, Father Adrian appealed to people, asking them not to hold all Ukrainians responsible for the attack, since, in his words, this was the act of a specific individual. 

“Do not blame the people from whom the attacker came, because the evil was committed by a specific person—an individual with a name, a life, and who is accountable for his actions. Other people did not do this. It was one single person,” the priest said.

He also recalled that after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the monastery helped Ukrainians who came to Poland. 

According to Father Adrian, this is precisely why it is especially important now to prevent hatred and hostility. “I ask you, do not respond to evil with evil; respond with love, support, and understanding. I ask you to respect and support one another,” he urged.

What Happened at the Monastery

The attack took place on the morning of September 24 in Jarosław, in Poland’s Podkarpackie Voivodeship. 

According to preliminary reports, a man armed with a kitchen knife attacked five people. Among the victims were three priests and a woman. One of the wounded priests, 67-year-old Stanisław Zboinowicz, died in the hospital. Four other people were injured.

Police detained the suspect directly at the scene. He is a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen, identified by Polish authorities as Igor M. According to the investigation, he had arrived in Poland from Germany shortly before the attack. 

After his arrest, the man was taken into custody. A court in Jarosław sentenced him to three months of detention. Due to his health condition, the suspect is being held in a hospital setting.

What is known about the suspect’s condition

The Polish Prosecutor’s Office reported that the man was diagnosed with acute polymorphic psychotic disorder. 

According to psychiatrists’ findings, at the time of the examination, he was in a state of severe psychomotor agitation. Experts also noted disruptions in his thought processes and stated that the man is currently incapable of logical communication.

At the same time, this expert assessment describes his condition at the time of the examination. 

It does not, in and of itself, determine whether the man was of sound mind at the time of the attack. The question of his mental state specifically during the crime must be determined separately as part of the investigation.

The suspect did not serve in the Ukrainian army

Following the attack, reports appeared in Polish and Ukrainian media suggesting that the suspect may have served in the Ukrainian army. Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland, refuted this information. 

According to him, the Ukrainian side has no evidence that the man ever served in the military.

According to the ambassador, the suspect’s mother also stated that her son had never served in the Ukrainian army. The investigation into the attack in Jarosław is ongoing. 

Polish law enforcement authorities must establish all the circumstances of the tragedy and the suspect’s motives. 

Meanwhile, the wounded priest urged the faithful not to respond to hatred with hatred and not to hold an entire nation responsible for the actions of a single individual. This was reported by Gosc niedzielny.

In Poland, prosecutors have filed charges against a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen suspected of carrying out a knife attack at a monastery in Jarosław. If found guilty, he could face life imprisonment.

The Ukrainian man was admitted to a psychiatric hospital following the fatal attack in Poland.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack by a Ukrainian citizen on the Benedictine nuns’ abbey in the Polish city of Jarosław, which resulted in the death of a priest and injuries to four other people.

The attack occurred on the morning of September 24 on the grounds of the Yaroslavl Abbey on Benediktinskaya Street. 

Around 9:30 a.m., police received a report of a stabbing. According to preliminary information from the Polish police, a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen stabbed four men and one woman. 

All of the victims were taken to the hospital. Three men sustained serious injuries, and the fourth died at the hospital. 

Church apologises after jailed priest named in prayer list

A Stockport church has withdrawn a newsletter after it included prayers of “thanksgiving” for a former priest jailed for sexually abusing a teenage girl.

Our Lady and the Apostles Church in Edgeley listed Father Vincent Whelan in its latest newsletter ahead of a Mass on Saturday.

One parishioner said they were “disgusted” to see his name.

The listing read: “Fr Vincent Wheelan (sic), Thanksgiving”.

The church later confirmed it referred to Father Whelan, whose surname had been misspelled. It said the prayer had been requested by a parishioner and that he would not be attending or leading the Mass.

The parishioner said: “I was just disgusted when I saw his name. It should never have been added to the newsletter. If people want to pray for that man it should be in another parish, not here where because he caused such harm.”

Father Whelan was jailed for nine months in 2018 after being convicted of three counts of indecent assault against a teenage girl in the 1980s.

Manchester Crown Court heard he had used his position as a parish priest to groom and sexually abuse the girl. He was also made subject to sex offender notification requirements and a restraining order.

The Diocese of Shrewsbury said he has no public ministry and is subject to a safeguarding plan.

A spokesperson said: “Father Vincent Whelan is subject to a strict safeguarding plan following his conviction of indecent assault in 2018 and subsequent custodial sentence. He exercises no public ministry in the Diocese whatsoever.

“The inclusion of his name on a parish newsletter reflects only the private prayer intentions of one member of the parish. It does not indicate the involvement of Father Whelan in the Mass of September 26. Nor does it imply thanksgiving by the parish for his ministry. It is a clerical oversight which has been corrected by the withdrawal of the newsletters as hard copies and online.”

At his sentencing, Judge Patrick Field QC described the offences as an “unacceptable abuse of trust”.

The judge said: “These offences were committed against a [teenage] victim. A child. Whilst a parish priest, you ambushed her and forced yourself upon her, kissing her on the mouth.

“She recalled your teeth clattering with hers and the horror she experienced at the time. I have no doubt this was a shocking experience for a young child and this will have been seated upon her memory.

“Given your position of trust as parish priest, your actions towards her was an unacceptable abuse of that trust. It was your good character that enabled you into the complainant’s life and allowed you to abuse her.

“I conclude that your actions can only be justified by an immediate deprivation of your liberty.”

Pope Leo XIV asks French bishops to defend the public voice of the Church and the identity of Catholic schools

Pope Leo XIV urged French bishops this Sunday, September 27, not to renounce the Church’s public presence before a regime of secularism whose balance, he warned, could once again be called into question. 

During the meeting held in the Sainte-Bernadette auditorium of the Lourdes Shrine, the Pope also defended the distinctive character of Catholic education, called for solid doctrinal formation for new converts, and pointed to the Christian family as one of the keys to addressing the crisis of vocations.

The Pontiff left at 8:50 a.m. for the Sainte-Bernadette auditorium, where he was received by Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille and President of the French Episcopal Conference. 

After the cardinal’s welcoming remarks, Leo XIV delivered his address to the episcopate and, once the meeting concluded, moved at 10:00 a.m. to the sanctuary meadow for the Mass scheduled at 11:00 a.m.

The Church “has its full place” in public debate

Leo XIV drew on France’s Christian history to affirm that the Church still forms part of its culture, identity, and vocation in the world. He recalled the country’s ancient bond with the Virgin Mary, the consecration of France in 1638, and its historic title of “Kingdom of Mary,” before urging the bishops to act with “courage, boldness, and missionary creativity.”

In one of the central passages of his address, the Pope stated that the Church’s voice has its full place in French public debate and possesses, by its very nature, a prophetic authority. Even when it is not heard or followed on matters affecting the foundations of civilization, he maintained, its voice remains necessary.

Leo XIV specifically mentioned the bishops’ action during recent debates on end-of-life issues and encouraged them to persevere alongside those who defend the same values. His intervention thus extended the position he expressed on Friday at the Élysée Palace, where the Pontiff called for a form of secularism that does not exclude religion from the public sphere.

Vigilance before a secularism that could limit the Church’s mission

The Pope referred directly to the French model of secularism, the fruit of a history he described as turbulent yet now pacified. He warned, however, that the balance achieved could once again be questioned, as is happening, he noted, in other parts of the Western world.

In light of that possibility, he asked the bishops to remain vigilant in defending the Church’s freedom and rights to evangelize, to educate in true freedom, to practice public worship, and to exercise visible charity in the name of Jesus Christ.

Leo XIV also recalled Pope Francis’s appeal to French Catholics to reclaim their heritage of faith. He recalled the holiness, cultural patrimony, and missionary impetus born of French Catholicism and affirmed that he believes the time has come when many contemporaries once again await the message of hope contained in the Gospel.

Solid doctrinal formation for new converts

The growth of the catechumenate once again occupied a prominent place in the address. Leo XIV highlighted that the phenomenon especially affects young adults and asked the bishops to accompany this grace through living communities, the practice of charity, and a “solid doctrinal teaching” rooted in the Word of God, capable of preparing new faithful to face objections and doubts.

The Pontiff had devoted his Saturday meeting at the Catholic Institute of Paris precisely to this question, through biblical, theological, doctrinal, moral, and liturgical formation.

“Making Jesus Christ known and loved” constitutes, he affirmed this Sunday before the bishops, the only roadmap for the new missionary impetus he desires for France.

Catholic schools cannot renounce their identity

Leo XIV then addressed one of the debates affecting the French Church: the distinctive character of Catholic educational institutions. The Pope acknowledged as positive their openness to students who do not share the faith, always respecting freedom of conscience, but he set a clear limit.

Catholic education, he maintained, cannot renounce its educational project centered on Christ and oriented toward the integral development of the person in spiritual, cultural, intellectual, moral, and social dimensions. Therefore, he considered it natural that in a Catholic institution there should be opportunities to encounter Jesus Christ and hear his Word.

The Pontiff added that no student should feel marginalized within their own class simply for believing in Jesus.

Abuses, priesthood, and the crisis of consecrated life

The Pope also referred to abuses committed against minors by members of the clergy or in ecclesial contexts. He acknowledged the measures adopted by the French episcopate through listening to victims, seeking truth, justice, reparation, and prevention, and called for maintaining “the greatest vigilance.” At the same time, he noted that the clergy need support and encouragement from their bishops.

On vocations, Leo XIV stated that for new priestly vocations to arise, the priest must be awaited, welcomed, and loved, and his identity configured with Christ must appear clearly before the People of God.

He also expressed concern over the decline in vocations to consecrated life, particularly contemplative life, and said he had learned “with sorrow” of the recent or imminent closure of ancient monastic communities that had exerted significant historical influence.

The family, a “key” against the Church’s crises

Leo XIV directly linked the vocational question to the vitality of Christian families. A faith deeply rooted within the family, he noted, constitutes one of the keys capable of responding to many crises affecting both the Church and society.

In the home, he recalled, one learns coexistence, respect, acceptance of differences, mutual assistance, generosity, and the spirit of sacrifice. The fundamental challenge, therefore, would be for Jesus Christ to live fully once again in French Catholic families.

Against ideological divisions in the Church

In the final part of his address, the Pope also called for unity within the French Church. He described it as a “little flock” that needs to gather its strength for mission and warned that ideological divisions would render its witness sterile.

Leo XIV clarified that ecclesial unity does not mean flat uniformity. According to him, it must allow every authentically Catholic sensibility to converge in a common profession of faith, through obedience to legitimate pastors and especially to the Successor of Peter. This unity, he added, is nourished by the Church’s Tradition, from the Fathers to the Second Vatican Council and subsequent magisterium, and is enriched through reciprocal dialogue from faith.

The Pope concluded by assuring the bishops that the Church in France is “precious” to the Pontiff and expressed his hope for a missionary renewal sustained by communities, young people, and the Christian heritage received over the centuries.

 

ADDRESS OF LEO XIV TO THE FRENCH

Your Eminence,
Your Excellencies,

I am happy to meet with you, dear brothers in the episcopate, in this place blessed by heaven, near the grotto where the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Bernadette and where you regularly gather for your plenary assemblies. By this choice you clearly manifest your desire to place the Church in France under the protection of the Mother of God, the Immaculate Virgin, so that she may guide it more securely according to the Lord’s will. Indeed, there is no better way to reach Jesus than through Mary. Everything in her leads us to her Son.

In this way, you perpetuate the legacy you have received from your fathers in the faith, from the dawn of the evangelization of this country. The cult of the Mother of God took root here so deeply that France was soon called the “Kingdom of Mary” (Pius XI, Ap. Letter Galliam, Ecclesiae filiam primogenitam, 2 March 1922). This privileged bond between your nation and the Blessed Virgin was manifested in a singular way when France was solemnly consecrated on 10 February 1638, as I was able to see the day before yesterday in a beautiful representation in the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. And my predecessor Pius XI, referring to that vow, declared Our Lady of the Assumption Patroness of France (cf. ibid.).

This long journey with Mary, full of trust and tenderness, marked by so many devotions and places that bear her name, by so many prayers heard—often amid tears—by so many shrines and pilgrimages, by so many cathedrals, continues today, against wind and tide, and bears witness to the living faith of the People of God entrusted to you. In the face of the immense challenges of our time, I urge you, dear brothers, to show courage, boldness, and missionary creativity. Do not be discouraged by the errors, inconsistencies, or even the falls that have marked the history of this people on the way. Always have the courage to acknowledge errors in love of the truth and the determination to heal wounds with the charity of the Good Shepherd, who knows his sheep and calls each one by name. Rise up, then, with hope, and do not tire of proclaiming the Gospel!

The history of the Church in France is rich, immensely rich. It is beautiful and fruitful; and it is important to draw upon it to build the future of your communities, as well as that of your country. The Church has been a witness, and has even contributed to the gradual building of this nation; today it still, to a large extent, forms part of its culture, its identity, and its vocation for the world. That is why the Church’s voice has its place in public debate in France; it possesses, by its very nature, a prophetic authority. Even when it is not always heard, it is awaited. Even when it is not followed, especially on essential questions affecting the foundations of civilization, it is necessary; do not doubt it! I know the determination and courage you possess—you have clearly demonstrated it in the recent debates on end-of-life issues—and I invite you to persevere, together with all people of good will who defend the same values.

You currently live under a very particular regime of secularism, the fruit of a turbulent history, now pacified, but one that must allow the Church to fulfill its mission. The fact that the balance, achieved with so much effort, is gradually being called into question, as is happening in other parts of the Western world, should not lead you to resignation. I invite you to remain vigilant in defending the Church’s freedom and rights to evangelize, to educate in true freedom, and to practice public worship, so that charity may visibly be exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.

Pope Francis, in his message on the occasion of the reopening of the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, wrote: “I invite all the baptized who will joyfully enter this cathedral to feel a legitimate pride and to claim their heritage of faith. […] This dwelling, which our heavenly Father inhabits, is yours; you are its living stones. Those who preceded you in the faith built it for you” (Message on the occasion of the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, 21 November 2024). Encouraging the baptized to “reclaim their heritage of faith” today forms part of your mission as pastors, with a view to a renewal of the Church in France.

What the Lord has granted you, Catholics of France, Eldest Daughter of the Church, is indeed reason for thanksgiving: an uninterrupted succession of holiness that reaches our own day; the flourishing of the arts, letters, and sciences under the impulse of faith and the action of the Holy Spirit; an irreversible maturation of the consciousness of the inalienable value of the human person, of his dignity, and of the need to protect his rights and freedoms; not to mention that formidable missionary impetus that has borne fruit to the ends of the earth. Yes, Jesus has given you much, and in his love he wishes to give you even more.

That is why, looking to the future, Pope Francis added to his already cited words: “May the rebirth of this admirable Church, therefore, be a prophetic sign of the renewal of the Church in France” (ibid.). I too believe that the time has come when many of our contemporaries expect to hear the message full of hope of the Gospel and to see the light of the risen Christ shine in their eyes. The message of peace that has its origin in Jesus is all the more awaited when one considers that, both in France and in the rest of the West, there is an alarming polarization, a retreat in fraternity, cordiality, and quality of life within society, as well as a resurgence of violence, inequalities, and poverty. In the face of such challenges, disillusionment and disorientation follow the false promises of a world in which God would be absent, relegated to private life, where the help of his grace would be considered useless for the building of the earthly city. That is why Jesus clearly warned his disciples: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).

Young people, in particular, harbor great aspirations. Concerned about the world they have received, troubled about the future, they are ready to work with courage and generosity for all that is beautiful, true, and good. Show them the way of the Gospel, the only sure direction—though demanding—which has already borne so much fruit in this land of France. Yesterday, in Paris, we mentioned the encouraging sign of the catechumenate, which largely concerns young adults. It is a grace and a joy for the whole People of God. It is important that you take care to accompany this grace, especially through welcome in living communities that practice charity and live in solidarity; and through solid doctrinal teaching rooted in the Word of God that enables them to face objections and doubts.

To carry out this renewal of hope, within the framework of a new missionary impetus in France, which I so desire, there is only one “roadmap,” always the same: to make Jesus Christ known and loved, authentically, with passion, again and again. In the current context, you face some important challenges. That of education, which is of paramount importance. It is very praiseworthy that your Assemblies are delving into this theme. Education is an especially broad mission that encompasses multiple areas of life. I would simply like to mention that of Catholic education, whose “distinctive character” is being questioned in these times. It is a joy that Catholic educational centers are widely open to those who do not share our faith. This generous welcome, respectful of each person’s freedom of conscience, promises great fruitfulness for all, for society, and for the Church itself. However, Catholic education cannot, in any way, renounce its educational project, a project centered on Christ that aims at the integral development of the human person in all its dimensions: spiritual, cultural, intellectual, moral, and social. Therefore, no one should be surprised that in any Catholic center opportunities are offered to encounter Jesus Christ and hear his Word. Still less should any student feel marginalized in their class simply for believing in Jesus.

In recent years, you have faced with determination the painful scourge of abuses against minors committed by members of the clergy or in an ecclesial context. You have adopted courageous measures to confront it, through listening, the search for truth, justice, forgiveness, reparation, and a firm commitment to a culture of prevention and protection against these crimes. I thank you for what you have done, and I know that some moments have been very difficult for your Conference. It is necessary to continue along the path undertaken, maintaining the utmost vigilance. At the same time, your clergy needs support and encouragement; I know that they are the object of your paternal solicitude. For priestly vocations to arise, the priest must be awaited, welcomed, and loved, and his identity—configured in Christ—must be clear and well understood within the People of God, for the joy of the Gospel and the service of his mission.

I also consider it important to mention the regrettable decline in vocations to consecrated life, particularly to contemplative life. I have received with sorrow the news of the recent or imminent closure of ancient and prestigious monastic communities that have had great influence throughout history. To give one’s life to following Jesus along such a narrow path requires, in addition to the work of grace, a special generosity, a solid rooting in faith, a sustained interior life, and a privileged closeness to him. These conditions are found more frequently in Christian families, which deserve the greatest attention and the greatest support. Without doubt, the deepening and consolidation of the life of faith within families is a key that will make it possible to resolve many of the crises affecting the Church and our societies. Indeed, it is within families that one learns to live together, to respect others, to accept diversity, to support one another, to be generous, to give oneself disinterestedly, and to have a spirit of sacrifice. Perhaps this is the main challenge we must face: May Jesus live fully in the Catholic families of France and enlighten them with his presence!

To these challenges is added another that may cause some concern for the future: that of unity. In this regard, allow me to recall how essential it is that the disciples of Jesus be united in charity, just as he asked his Father: “That they may all be one […], so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17:21). The Church in France is a small flock that must unite its strength for mission. Ideological divisions would render its witness vain. There have always been tensions in the history of the Church, but when they manifest themselves, it is then that we can better appreciate the gift of unity. This unity is not a simple uniformity, but allows every authentically Catholic sensibility to converge naturally in a common profession of faith, through obedience to legitimate pastors and, in particular, to the Successor of Peter, “the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity of faith and communion” (LG, 18). It is a dynamic unity that is nourished by the Tradition of the Church—from the Fathers to the Second Vatican Council—and by the post-conciliar Magisterium. Moreover, it is enriched in reciprocal dialogue, starting from faith, according to a synodal style that we have been trying to deepen in recent times.

Dear brothers, the Church in France occupies a very special place in the Pope’s heart. How I would like to convey to you the feelings of enthusiasm and hope that fill me when I think of you! The Church in France, rich in living, fraternal communities open to the world; rich in a passionate youth committed to multiple initiatives; rich also in a legacy that sustains it, yet at the same time commits it. I am certain that the People of God who are pilgrims in France will continue with fervor their mission of proclaiming and making Jesus Christ loved, so that the world may have life.

Entrusting to the maternal protection of Our Lady of Lourdes your Assembly, your diocesan communities, and your country, I joyfully impart to you the Apostolic Blessing. Thank you.