Pope Francis Homilies

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Matthew Mark Luke John The Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Tobit Judith Esther 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes The Song of Songs The Book of Wisdom Sirach Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Baruch Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

Pope Leo Holy Mass 29.03.26

Palm Sunday: Passion of the Lord

Dear brothers and sisters,

As Jesus walks the Way of the Cross, we place ourselves behind him, following in his footsteps. As we walk with him, we contemplate his passion for the sake of humanity, his broken heart, and his life as a gift of love.

We turn our gaze to Jesus, who reveals himself as King of Peace, even as war looms abounds him. He remains steadfast in meekness, while others are stirring up violence. He offers himself to embrace humanity, even as others raise swords and clubs. He is the light of the world, though darkness is about to engulf the earth. He came to bring life, even as plans unfold to condemn him to death.

King of Peace. Jesus’ desire is to bring the world into the Father’s arms, tearing down every barrier that separates us from God and from our neighbour, for “He is our peace” (Eph 2:14).

King of Peace. Jesus enters into Jerusalem not upon a horse, but upon a donkey, fulfilling the ancient prophecy that calls for rejoicing at the arrival of the Messiah: “Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations” (Zech 9:9–10).

King of Peace. When one of his disciples drew his sword to defend him and struck the high priest’s servant, Jesus immediately stopped him, saying: “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Mt 26:52).

King of Peace. While he was burdened with our sufferings and pierced for our sins, Jesus “did not open his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent” (Is 53:7). He did not arm himself, or defend himself, or fight any war. He revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence. Rather than saving himself, he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross, embracing every cross borne in every time and place throughout human history.

Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood” (Is 1:15).

As we set our gaze upon him who was crucified for us, we can see a crucified humanity. In his wounds, we see the hurts of so many women and men today. In his last cry to the Father, we hear the weeping of those who are crushed, who have no hope, who are sick and who are alone. Above all, we hear the painful groans of all those who are oppressed by violence and are victims of war.

Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from his cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!

In the words of the Servant of God, Bishop Tonino Bello, I would like to entrust this cry to Mary Most Holy, who stands beneath the cross of her Son and weeps also at the feet of those who are crucified today:

“Holy Mary, woman of the third day, grant us the certainty that, in spite of all, death will no longer hold sway over us; that the injustices of peoples are numbered; that the flashes of war are fading into the twilight; that the sufferings of the poor are breathing their last. And grant, finally, that the tears of all the victims of violence and pain will soon be dried up like frost beneath the spring sun” (Maria, donna dei nostri giorni).

Dear brothers and sisters,

At the beginning of Holy Week, our prayers are more than ever with the Christians of the Middle East, who are suffering the consequences of a brutal conflict and, in many cases, are unable to observe fully the liturgies of these holy days. Just as the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s Passion, we cannot forget those who today are truly sharing in his suffering. Their ordeal challenges all our consciences. Let us raise our prayer to the Prince of Peace that he may sustain the peoples wounded by war and open concrete paths to reconciliation and peace.

I also wish to entrust to the Lord the maritime workers who have fallen victim to the conflict. I pray for the deceased, the wounded and their families. Land, sky and sea were all created for life and peace!

Let us also pray for all the migrants who have died at sea, especially those who lost their lives in recent days off the coast of Crete.

I greet and thank all of you – both Romans and pilgrims – who have taken part in this liturgy! Together, let us now turn to the Virgin Mary, entrusting all our prayers to her intercession. May she guide us during these holy days, so that we may follow Jesus, our Saviour, with faith and love.

29.03.26

Pope Leo Holy Mass 29.03.26

Palm Sunday: Passion of the Lord

Watch Live from 9.55 Rome Time Followed by The Angelus

Pope Leo Holy Mass 28.03.26

Excerpt below for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Dear brothers and sisters,

The Gospel we have heard (cf. Jn 11:45–57) recounts the cruel sentence issued against Jesus; it tells us of the day when the members of the Sanhedrin “planned to put him to death” (v. 53). Why does this happen to him? It is because he raised Lazarus from the dead, restoring life to his friend, at whose tomb he had wept, sharing in the grief of Martha and Mary. Jesus, who came into the world to free us from the condemnation of death, is himself condemned to death. This is not a matter of fate, but a deliberate and carefully considered decision.

The verdict of Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin stemmed from a political calculation based on fear: if Jesus continued to inspire hope and turn the people’s sorrow into joy, “the Romans would come” and devastate the nation (v. 48). Rather than recognising the Nazarene as the Messiah — the long-awaited Christ — the religious leaders saw him as a threat. As teachers of the Law, their vision was so distorted that they violated the precepts of the Law themselves. Forgetting God’s promise to his people, they sought to kill the innocent, and behind their fear lay a desire to keep hold of power. Although they had forgotten the Law, which commands, “Thou shalt not kill,” God did not forget the promise that would prepare the world for salvation. His providence turned that murderous verdict into the means of revealing an act of supreme love: however wicked Caiaphas may have been, he “prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation” (v. 51).

We are thus witnesses to two opposing forces: on the one hand, the revelation of God, who presents himself as the almighty Lord and Saviour; and on the other, the hidden schemes of powerful authorities who are eager to kill without scruples. Does this not also happen today? Where these forces converge, there lies the sign of Jesus: the giving of one’s life. This sign is foreshadowed in the resurrection of Lazarus, which is the closest prophecy of the events that would later unfold in the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. At Passover, the Son would fulfil the Father’s work through the power of the Holy Spirit. Just as God brought life into being from nothing at the beginning of time, so in the fullness of time he redeems every life from death, the source of destruction in creation.

The joy and the strength of our witness come from redemption, in every place and at every time. Indeed, our own stories are encompassed within Jesus’ story, beginning with the lives of the vulnerable and oppressed. Even today, how many plots are devised around the world to kill the innocent! How many excuses are made to justify their elimination! Yet, despite the persistence of evil, God’s eternal justice always rescues us from our graves, as it did with Lazarus, and gives us new life. The Lord frees us from pain by instilling hope. He converts our hardened hearts by transforming power into service, revealing the true name of his omnipotence: mercy. It is mercy that saves the world. It nurtures every human life in all its frailty, from the moment it grows in the womb until it withers away. As Pope Francis taught us, the culture of mercy rejects the throwaway culture.

As we have heard, the voices of the prophets testify to how God carries out his plan of salvation. In the first reading, Ezekiel proclaims that God’s work begins with liberation (Ez 37:23) and is realised through the sanctification of the people (cf. v. 28), who are on a journey of conversion, much like our own Lenten journey. This is an invitation to become involved, rather than remaining at a private or individual level, so that our relationships with God and with our Neighbours can be transformed.

28.03.26 m

FAMINE

Pope Francis

Hunger

Hunger is an injustice that destroys men and women because they have nothing to eat, even if there is a lot food available in the world. Human exploitation; different forms of slavery; recently I saw a film shot inside a prison where migrants are locked up and tortured to turn them into slaves. This is still happening 70 years after the Declaration of Human Rights. Cultural colonization. This is exactly what the Devil wants, to destroy human dignity – and that is why the Devil is behind all forms of persecution.

01.06.18

Pope Leo

Message for Lent 2026

Excerpt below for the full transcript click on the link above

Listening and Fasting:

Lent as a Time of Conversion

Dear brothers and sisters,

Lent is a time in which the Church, guided by a sense of maternal care, invites us to place the mystery of God back in the centre of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life.

Every path towards conversion begins by allowing the word of God to touch our hearts and welcoming it with a docile spirit. There is a relationship between the word, our acceptance of it and the transformation it brings about. For this reason, the Lenten journey is a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ, accompanying him on the road to Jerusalem, where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection will be fulfilled.

13.02.26

Pope Leo Meeting with Young People 28.03.25

Apostolic Journey to Monaco

Pope Leo General Audience 25.03.26

Excerpt below for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

We will continue our catecheses on the Documents of the Second Vatican Council, commenting on the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium on the Church (LG). After presenting her as the People of God, today we will consider her hierarchical form.

The Catholic Church is founded on the Apostles, whom Christ appointed as the living pillars of His mystical Body, and possesses a hierarchical structure that works in the service of the unity, mission and sanctification of all her members. This sacred Order is permanently founded on the Apostles (cf. Eph 2:20; Rev 21:14), as authoritative witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus (cf. Acts 1:22; 1 Cor 15:7) and sent by the Lord Himself on mission into the world (cf. Mk 16:15; Mt 28:19). Since the Apostles are called to faithfully preserve the Master’s salvific teaching (cf. 2 Tim 1:13–14), they hand on their ministry to men who, until Christ’s return, continue to sanctify, guide and instruct the Church “through their successors in pastoral office” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 857).

This apostolic succession, founded on the Gospel and in the Tradition, is explored further in Chapter III of Lumen gentium, entitled “On the hierarchical structure of the Church and in particular on the Episcopate”. The Council teaches that the hierarchical structure is not a human construct, functional to the internal organisation of the Church as a social body (cf. LG, 8), but a divine institution whose purpose is to perpetuate the mission given by Christ to the Apostles until the end of time.

The fact that this theme is addressed in Chapter III, after the first two chapters have considered the very essence of the Church (cf. Acta Synodalia III/1, 209–210), does not imply that the hierarchical constitution is a subsequent element with respect to the People of God: as the Decree Ad gentes notes, “the Apostles were the first budding-forth of the New Israel, and at the same time the beginning of the sacred hierarchy” (no. 5), inasmuch as they were the community of those redeemed by Christ’s Paschal Mystery, established as a means of salvation for the world.

To understand the Council’s intention, it is advisable to read carefully the title of Chapter III of Lumen gentium, which explains the fundamental structure of the Church, received from God the Father through the Son and brought to fulfilment by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Council Fathers did not want to present the institutional elements of the Church, as the noun “constitution” might imply if understood in the modern sense. The Document concentrates instead on the “ministerial or hierarchical priesthood”, which differs “in essence and not only in degree” from the common priesthood of the faithful, recalling that the latter are “nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ” (LG, 10). The Council thus addresses the ministry conferred upon men endowed with sacra potestas, sacred power (cf. LG, 18) for service in the Church: it focuses in particular on the episcopate (LG, 18–27), then on the priesthood (LG, 28) and the diaconate (LG, 29) as degrees of the one sacrament of Holy Orders.

By the adjective “hierarchical”, therefore, the Council intends to indicate the sacred origin of the apostolic ministry in the action of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, as well as its internal relationships. The Bishops, first and foremost, and through them the priests and deacons, have received tasks (in Latin munera), which lead them to the service of “all those who belong to the People of God”, so that, “working toward a common goal freely and in an orderly way, [they] may arrive at salvation” (LG, 18).

Lumen gentium repeatedly and effectively recalls the collegial and communal nature of this apostolic mission, reaffirming that the “duty which the Lord committed to the shepherds of His people is a true service, which in sacred literature is significantly called ‘diakonia’ or ministry” (LG, 24). We can therefore understand why Saint Paul VI presented the hierarchy as a reality “born of the charity of Christ, to fulfil, spread and ensure the intact and fruitful transmission of the wealth of faith, examples, precepts and charisms bequeathed by Christ to His Church” (Address, 14 September 1964, in Acta Synodalia III/1, 147).

Dear sisters and dear brothers, let us pray to the Lord that He may send to His Church ministers who are ardent with evangelical charity, dedicated to the good of all the baptised, and courageous missionaries in every part of the world.

I extend a warm welcome to all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially those coming from England, Ireland, Tanzania, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States of America. I greet in particular the students of the University of Dallas Rome Program. As we continue our Lenten journey, let us ask the Lord to grant us the grace to imitate Our Blessed Mother in her total “yes” to the Lord, and so open our hearts to his will for our lives. Upon all of you and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you all!

Lastly, my thoughts turn to the young people, the sick and the newlyweds. May the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, which we celebrate today, be an invitation for everyone to follow the example of Mary Most Holy in order to be ready to do God's will always.

My blessing to you all!

25.03.26

Pope Leo General Audience 25.03.26

The Gospel in your pocket

How do we receive the Word of God? The response is clear: As one receives Jesus Christ. The Church tells us that Jesus is present in the Scripture, in His Word.

Always carry a small Gospel with you in your purse, in your pocket, and read a passage from the Gospel during the day. Not so much to learn something, but mostly to find Jesus, because Jesus actually is in His Word, in His Gospel. Every time I read the Gospel, I find Jesus. - Pope Francis 01.09.14

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Thank you, Francis

Every month, you have invited us to pray with you for the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church, teaching us to learn compassion for others from the heart of Christ. Thank you, Francis, for your life and your witness.

Your Worldwide Prayer Network.

Pope Francis Easter Message and Urbi et Orbi Blessing 20.04.25

Easter Sunday