In Rome, Pope Leo meets with Vatican diplomatic staff serving worldwide, urging them to be “pilgrims of hope, especially where people lack justice and peace.”
By Vatican News
Pope Leo met today with staff at the Vatican’s worldwide network of apostolic nunciatures, or embassies.
The Vatican diplomats, like so many other pilgrims, the Pope said, had “come to Rome, to the tomb of the Apostle Peter, to strengthen their faith and renew the intentions that inspire their ministry.”
Proclaiming the Gospel to the world
At the outset of his address, Pope Leo thanked diplomats for leaving their native countries behind in order to “carry the redeeming word of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”
Exercising their priestly ministry in a diplomatic context, he said, means “being everywhere the presence of the whole Church and, in particular, of the pastoral solicitude of the Pope”.
In the case of difficulties, especially those faced by diplomats serving in “difficult contexts marked by conflict and poverty”, the Holy Father encouraged his listeners to “remember that the Church supports you in prayer.”
“Strengthen your priestly identity by drawing your strength from the sacraments, from fraternal communion, and from constant docility to the Holy Spirit,” Pope Leo XIV urged.
Pope Leo’s audience with diplomatic staff at the apostolic nunciatures (@Vatican Media)
Immersing oneself in peoples and traditions
The Pope also encouraged the diplomats to “resist the temptation to isolate yourselves.”
Be “disciples passionately in love with Christ,” the Pope urged them, immersing yourselves “with an evangelical style” in the contexts where you live and work. A tree, the Pope said, can be transplanted elsewhere and bear new fruit.
Bringing his address to a close, the Pope reminded the diplomats that each of their residences holds a chapel, the “real centre of your house”, where the tabernacle can “dispel shadows and anxieties, illuminating the path you are walking”.
“Keeping hold of this miracle of grace,” the Pope urged, “be pilgrims of hope, especially where peoples lack justice and peace.”