The January edition of the Italian magazine Piazza San Pietro shines a spotlight on the enduring challenge of nurturing faith in a modern world.
Jan 23, 2026
Pope Leo XIV greeting pilgrims in the Vatican (@Vatican Media)
VATICAN: The January edition of the Italian magazine Piazza San Pietro shines a spotlight on the enduring challenge of nurturing faith in a modern world. Central to the edition is Pope Leo XIV’s response to a heartfelt letter from Nunzia, a 50-year-old catechist from Laufenburg, a small Swiss town of just 620 inhabitants, who wrote about the struggle of involving families in parish life.
Nunzia described how, in Switzerland, parents are often reluctant to participate in Church activities, and even children and young people sometimes hesitate to trust in God. “I sow seeds, but the seedlings struggle to grow,” she wrote. “Children and families prefer sports and parties. Churches seem increasingly empty or populated only by the elderly.” She concluded by asking the Pope to pray for the young people in her care and for herself, so that she might not grow discouraged.
Pope Leo XIV acknowledged Nunzia’s concerns, placing them in a broader context. “The situation in which you live is no different from that of other countries with ancient Christian traditions,” he said. The Pope urged a shift in perspective: the challenge is not simply about attendance numbers, but about fostering a genuine awareness of being living members of the Church.
“The problem is not the numbers — which, of course, make one reflect — but the increasingly evident lack of awareness in feeling part of the Church,” Pope Leo wrote. He stressed that every member of the faithful has unique gifts and roles to play and cautioned against treating the sacred and the sacraments as mere habit.
The Pope offered encouragement to Nunzia and all catechists facing similar struggles. “As Christians, we always need conversion. And we must seek it together,” he said, reminding them that the true door of faith “is the Heart of Christ, always wide open.” Drawing on the legacy of Pope Paul VI, Pope Leo concluded with a message of hope: “What we can do is bear witness to the joy of Christ’s Gospel, the joy of rebirth and resurrection.”
With this message, Pope Leo XIV calls the global Church to a renewed vision: one that values quality over quantity, presence over numbers, and authentic participation over routine. In a world where families and youth are increasingly distant from the Church, his words serve as both a comfort and a challenge — reminding all that the seeds sown in faith, no matter how small, always bear fruit in God’s time. —Vatican News