Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called bishops to be firm and decisive in dealing with scandal and sexual abuse, linking vigilance against abuse to living a chaste life.
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Speaking to over 400 bishops from 38 countries in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope also emphasized the importance of pastoral prudence, poverty, and synodality in the ministry of a bishop.
“Together with material poverty, the life of the bishop is also marked by that specific form of poverty, which is celibacy and virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven,” he said during the June 25 meeting, the last part of a morning of spiritual activities for the Jubilee of Bishops.
Leo said celibacy is more than living as a celibate but includes “chastity of heart and conduct, and in this way, living a life of Christian discipleship and presenting to all the authentic image of the Church, holy and chaste in her members as in her head.”
Following his reference to their personal chastity, the pope asked the bishops, when dealing with abuse, especially abuse of minors, to fully respect the Church’s current regulations.
Pope Leo, before his election, spent two years as head of the Dicastery for Bishops, the Vatican department responsible for assisting the pope in the appointment of new bishops around the world, providing formation for new bishops, and intervening when necessary in problems of governance within a diocese.
Evangelical poverty, as lived by the bishop, “is a simple, sober, and generous lifestyle, dignified and at the same time suited to the conditions of the majority of his people,” the pontiff said.
“The poor,” he continued, “must find in him a father and a brother, and never feel uncomfortable in meeting him or entering his home. In his personal life, he must be detached from the pursuit of wealth and from forms of favoritism based on money or power.”
On pastoral prudence, Leo underlined the need for synodality — “dialogue as a style and method” — in the bishop’s particular Church.
He encouraged bishops to be men of the theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. And he cited the Second Vatican Council decree on priests, Presbyterorum Ordinis, which mentions the human virtues of “fairness, sincerity, magnanimity, openness of mind and heart, the ability to rejoice with those who rejoice and to suffer with those who suffer, as well as self-control, delicacy, patience, discretion, great openness to listening and engaging in dialogue, and willingness to serve.”
“These virtues,” the pontiff said, “can and must be cultivated in conformity to the Lord Jesus, with the grace of the Holy Spirit.”
For the Jubilee of Bishops, members of the Roman Curia and bishops on pilgrimage to Rome began the morning by passing through the Holy Door. Cardinal Marc Ouellet, PSS, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Bishops, celebrated Mass for them at the Altar of the Chair before the approximately half-hour meeting with Leo.
After the pope delivered his spiritual message, which the bishops applauded, he led them in singing the Creed, the profession of the faith, in Latin.
“At the very place where Peter gave witness to Christ, together with me, his successor, you renew your loyalty to the prince of pastors,” the pope said as he introduced the Creed.
Pope Leo, in his catechesis, also cited St. Augustine’s description of the priestly ministry as the “amoris officium,” or the “office of love” in English.
Here the theological life of the bishop, he said, “is expressed and shines forth in the highest degree. Whether preaching, visiting communities, listening to priests and deacons, or making administrative decisions, all that he does is inspired and motivated by the charity of Christ the Shepherd.”
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This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.
