Here’s what Leo said in a private Q-and-A with priests this week.
In a private exchange with priests of the Diocese of Rome on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV responded to four questions, advising them on prayer, study, and priestly fraternity.
The off-camera moment took place after Leo gave a public speech to the priests, inviting them to “rekindle the fire” of their ministry.
“The first priest to speak was a young man who asked the pope how the Gospel can be embodied in the world of young people,” according to a priest present at the Feb. 19 meeting in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.
The priest told ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News, that Leo’s answer to this question was: “First of all, what is needed is the witness of the priest; and then, when meeting young people, they must broaden their horizons to reach as many young people as possible. For this, it is necessary to rediscover the value of communion.”
Responding to a second question, the pope recommended knowing well “the community in which one lives and works. It is necessary to know the reality well. To love your community, you must know it. Therefore, a real shared effort is needed to understand it better and thus face together all the challenges that arise.”
“The pope also invited us to use our brains more and not artificial intelligence [AI] to prepare homilies, as he now sees and hears happening,” the priest said. “And here the pope made a strong recommendation regarding prayer: We priests must pray — remain with the Lord, that is — not reduce everything to the breviary or to a few brief moments of prayer, but truly learn again to listen to the Lord.”
The third question was more reflective: Today, as priests, we are unable to rejoice in the success of another fellow priest.
The pope responded that “we are all human, but we should set a good example, especially the example of priestly fraternity.”
He dwelt at length on how to cultivate priestly friendship. The pope also reminded them to continue studying. “It must be ongoing study; we must always stay up to date. But the fundamental thing is to cultivate priestly friendship, priestly fraternity,” the priest from Rome said.
The final question concerned elderly priests and their loneliness. According to the priest, Leo’s response “reaffirmed the need for fraternity, for the joy of being together. We must give thanks, truly live gratitude for the fact of being priests, from the day of our ordination every single day, and thank God for this great gift, and live the priesthood with gratitude. And here, a great deal of humility is also required.”
“Personally, I was happy,” the priest concluded. “We greatly appreciated the pope for a very, very concrete speech.”
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
