POPE LEO XIV: CHURCH MISSION ON PROFOUND QUESTIONS OF LIFE
Source: Vatican News. Photo Credit: Catholic Connect
At the Weekly General Audience on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that one of the Church’s first missions in the contemporary world is to help people remain attentive to the profound questions of life, including questions about human origin and destiny, as well as the meaning of love and suffering.
Continuing his catechesis on the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, the Holy Father reflected on the challenges facing humanity today. He noted that the pressure of the modern world is increasingly expressed in a lifestyle centred on the consumption of material goods. Against this tendency, he reminded the faithful that “our hearts are made to look upwards.”
Pope Leo XIV explained that the Church fulfils her mission not by withdrawing from the world but by participating in the “construction of the earthly city.” This participation, he emphasized, is not primarily through political action, but through witnessing to faith and charity, together with a commitment to justice, peace and fraternity.
Reflecting on the pursuit of the common good and guided by the Church’s social doctrine, the Pope stressed that Christians cannot accept the oppression of the weak and the poor or unjust structures that perpetuate conditions of dependence and injustice.
He also called Christians to ensure that their daily lives correspond with the faith they profess. Referring to the teaching of the Council Fathers, he stated that the contradiction between “professed faith and daily life deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age.”
The Holy Father further emphasized the mission of the lay faithful, as presented in Gaudium et spes, noting that their responsibility to evangelize extends beyond the family and workplace to “every sphere of life.”
Addressing Pastors and theologians, Pope Leo XIV underlined the importance of discerning and evaluating the cultures of the present time in the light of the Word of God and the Tradition of the Church. Such discernment, he explained, “requires a balanced mind free from cultural trends, capable of viewing the world in a positive light whilst remaining steadfast in presenting the Gospel message in its entirety,” without reducing or weakening the demands of the Gospel.
The Pope concluded by emphasizing that Christian witness ultimately begins with personal holiness and fraternal love. He called on the faithful to remain open to the action of the Holy Spirit so that they may live lives marked by holiness and charity.
“Let us therefore be open to the action of the Holy Spirit, that He may help us to live in holiness and charity so that the world may believe and hope,” the Holy Father said.
Anita Aryeh
DEPSOCOM, Accra
