Faith

The faithful are called to leave behind "all passivity and indifference" toward current events and the lives of others, especially amid the "rapid and profound changes we are experiencing today," Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly general audience.

Pope Leo XIV began the five-week Season of Creation by calling on the faithful to step away from the frenzy of daily life to "hear the melodious voice of creation," stressing that "it is not yet too late" to repair humanity's relationship with the environment.

Whatever the injustice or injury, do not revert to hatred or violence, Pope Leo XIV told the faithful, because only love, hope, forgiveness and respect will protect and promote human dignity.

"Firmly rooted" in the Church's living tradition, the liturgical reform put forth by the Second Vatican Council grew from the need for the faithful to celebrate the liturgy more "consciously and actively," and not "as strangers and silent spectators," Pope Leo XIV said.

The word idol is used loosely in everyday language to mean someone who is admired excessively. That hockey player, that teacher, that influencer; our children “idolize” them, and we call it as we see it.

Singing and playing music during the liturgy is an integral and necessary part of the celebration, which means it is much more than something "decorative," Pope Leo XIV said.

Christians are called to reflect Mary's authentic beauty, which is revealed through a life of enduring love rather than worldly aesthetic standards, Pope Leo XIV said.

Warning against increased violence in the West Bank, Pope Leo XIV urged world leaders to decisively pursue an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

For the many living through war, displacement and devastating natural disasters, Mary remains a source of hope and maternal consolation, Pope Leo XIV said.

Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics to gather in person for Sunday Mass and called for working conditions that allow people to attend, saying Sunday is "the foundation and kernel of the whole liturgical year."