Pope Leo XIV received on June 17 at the Vatican the bishops of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI, by its Italian acronym), with whom he shared four “coordinates” for being a Church that embodies the Gospel: proclamation of the Gospel, peace, human dignity, and dialogue.

FIND THE POPE’S BIOGRAPHY HERE

At the beginning of his address, following a welcome from the president of the CEI, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Holy Father thanked the Italian prelates for their prayers while recalling the bond between the Church in Italy and the Vatican, a “common and particular” relationship.

In this context, he focused on the principles of collegiality elaborated by the Second Vatican Council, urging the bishops to live that unity in their ministry and also with the successor of Peter.

Leo XIV then cited the challenges facing the Church in Italy: “secularism, a certain disaffection with the faith, and the demographic crisis.”

Reviving “the special bond between the pope and the Italian bishops,” he highlighted several “pastoral concerns” that require reflection, concrete action, and evangelical witness.

Putting Jesus Christ at the center

First, the pope emphasized the need for “renewed zeal in the proclamation and transmission of the faith.”

“In a time of great fragmentation, it is necessary to return to the foundation of our faith, to the kerygma. This is the first major commitment that motivates all the others: to bring Christ “into the veins” of humanity, renewing and sharing the apostolic mission,” he affirmed.

He therefore encouraged the bishops to discern ways to reach people “with pastoral actions capable of intercepting those who are most distant, and with tools suitable for the renewal of catechesis and the languages of proclamation.”

He specifically mentioned urban peripheries and the need to bring peace to those places, where “a Church capable of reconciliation must make herself visible,” inviting each diocese to promote pathways of education in nonviolence and for each community to become a “house of peace.“

“Peace is not a spiritual utopia: It is a humble path, made up of daily gestures that interweave patience and courage, listening and action, and which demands today, more than ever, our vigilant and generative presence,” the pope noted.

In this regard, Leo XIV cited several factors that are transforming society, such as artificial intelligence and social media. For the pontiff, in this scenario, “human dignity risks becoming diminished or forgotten, substituted by functions, automatism, simulations.”

“But the person is not a system of algorithms: He or she is a creature, relationship, mystery. Allow me, then, to express a wish: that the journey of the Churches in Italy may include, in real symbiosis with the centrality of Jesus, the anthropological vision as an essential tool of pastoral discernment,” the Holy Father said.

Faced with the danger of faith becoming “disembodied,” Pope Leo XIV recommended that bishops “cultivate a culture of dialogue” between different generations, “because only where there is listening can communion be born and only where there is communion does truth become credible.”

“The proclamation of the Gospel, peace, human dignity, dialogue: These are the coordinates through which you can be a Church that incarnates the Gospel and is a sign of the kingdom of God,” the Holy Father emphasized.

At the end of his address, the pope encouraged the prelates to maintain unity while considering the synodal journey. “Synodality becomes a mindset, in the heart, in decision-making processes and in ways of acting,” he indicated.

He also urged them to look to tomorrow with serenity, asking them not to be afraid of making courageous decisions and to “walk with the last, serving the poor.”

“No one can prevent you from proclaiming the Gospel, and it is the Gospel that we are invited to bring, because it is this that everyone, ourselves first, need in order to live well and to be happy,” he affirmed.

Pope Leo also asked the bishops to care for the lay faithful and make them “agents of evangelization” in all areas of life.

“Let us walk together, with joy in our heart and song on our lips. God is greater than our mediocrity: Let us allow ourselves to be drawn to him! Let us trust in his providence,” the Holy Father concluded.

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This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.