Pope Leo XIV addresses women’s religious institutes, emphasizing charity and faith. While challenging them to examine “Is God my everything?”
Newsroom, June 30, 2025, – In a heartfelt address delivered in Clementine Hall on June 30, 2025, Pope Leo XIV welcomed representatives from various women’s religious institutes, including the Sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great, Daughters of Divine Charity, Augustinian Sisters of Amparo, and Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart. The gathering included sisters attending their General Chapters and others on a Jubilee pilgrimage, united in their commitment to renew their devotion to Christ and the Church at the tomb of Saint Peter.
The Pope highlighted the diverse histories of these congregations, each rooted in the spiritual legacies of figures like Saint Augustine, Saint Basil, and Saint Francis. He noted that their founders, inspired by these luminaries, established communities dedicated to serving the most vulnerable—children, orphans, migrants, the elderly, and the sick. This shared mission, the Pope emphasized, reflects a timeless fidelity to the Gospel’s call to love God and neighbor, attuned to the “signs of the times” as articulated by the Second Vatican Council in Gaudium et Spes (4; 11).
Drawing from the Council’s Decree Perfectae Caritatis (8), Pope Leo XIV underscored the necessity of blending an apostolic spirit with religious life, urging the sisters to serve Christ through their charitable works while remaining deeply united with Him. He invoked Saint Augustine’s words, describing God as the source of all sustenance—bread for the hungry, water for the thirsty, light for those in darkness, and an everlasting garment for the naked (In Ioannis Evangelium, 13, 5). The Pope challenged the sisters to reflect on how deeply Christ satisfies their own spiritual longings, noting that such rootedness in faith empowered their predecessors to achieve extraordinary acts of service across centuries and continents.
Acknowledging the pivotal moment for the sisters—whether discerning future paths in their General Chapters or celebrating the Jubilee—Pope Leo XIV encouraged them to make choices that will shape their congregations and the broader Church. He concluded with a prayerful invocation of Saint Paul’s words to the Ephesians (Eph 3:17-19), asking that Christ dwell in their hearts, grounding them in love and filling them with the fullness of God.
The address closed with gratitude for the sisters’ fidelity, a blessing, and a commendation to the Blessed Virgin Mary’s guidance.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from vatican.va
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