Pope Leo urged the hermits to embody Christ’s intercessory role, as mediators “between creatures, fragile and threatened by evil, and the merciful Father, the source of all good.”
Newsroom (15/10/2025, Gaudium Press ) In an address to a group of Italian hermits, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that their pursuit of solitude is not an escape from society but a profound means to attune themselves more intimately to God, their neighbors, and the natural world.
The pontiff met with approximately 50 hermits — men and women from religious orders, diocesan priests, and consecrated laypeople — on Oct. 11 at the Vatican, during the Jubilee of Consecrated Life. These individuals lead lives of deliberate isolation, centered on prayer, study, and manual work, though many briefly open their doors daily to offer spiritual guidance to visitors.
“Their primary goal is a regeneration of the heart, so that it may be capable of listening, a source of the creative and fruitful action of the charity that God inspires in us,” Pope Leo said, framing their vocation as essential in an era dominated by digital distractions.
“This call to interiority and silence, to live in contact with oneself, with one’s neighbor, with creation and with God, is needed today more than ever, in a world increasingly alienated by the media and technology,” he added. From this “intimate friendship with the Lord,” the pope explained, springs renewed joy in life, wonder in faith, and a relish for community within the Church.
Italy is home to around 200 such religious hermits, according to an Oct. 8 report in Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference. They dwell in remote mountain cabins, modest huts on monastic properties, or unassuming urban dwellings, embodying a timeless charism amid contemporary chaos.
The pope described the eremitic calling as a divine invitation to total dedication: “to seek [God] and listen to him, to praise him and invoke him, day and night, in the secrecy of their hearts.” Yet, he stressed, physical distance from the world does not equate to detachment. “Prayerful solitude generates communion and compassion for all humankind and for every creature, both in the dimension of the Spirit and in the ecclesial and social context in which you are placed as leaven of divine life.”
In these “troubled times,” Pope Leo urged the hermits to embody Christ’s intercessory role, positioning themselves as mediators “between creatures, fragile and threatened by evil, and the merciful Father, the source of all good.” He called on them to “stand in the breach with your hands raised and your hearts alert, walk always in the presence of God, in solidarity with the trials of humanity.”
Concluding his remarks, the pontiff encouraged them to fix their eyes on Jesus, hoist the sails of their hearts to the Holy Spirit, and navigate with the Church through history’s tempests toward God’s kingdom of love and peace.
The encounter underscores the Vatican’s ongoing recognition of contemplative vocations as vital counterweights to modern alienation, aligning with Pope Leo’s broader emphasis on spiritual renewal amid global uncertainties.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from UCA News
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