During his Wednesday General Audience in St. Peter’s Square on September 2, Pope Leo XIV called on the Church to serve humanity by actively engaging with contemporary challenges and standing alongside the most vulnerable. Beginning a new series of catecheses on the Second Vatican Council’s 1965 Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes (“Joy and Hope”), the Pope urged believers to reject passivity and indifference in the face of today’s rapid world changes, listening with their hearts and bearing the burdens of those crushed by injustice, discrimination, and violence.
Pope Leo emphasized that true Christian solidarity requires believers to engage directly with reality and unmask the profound contradictions of modern society. He pointed out stark divides: rapid technological and scientific advancements that benefit only a select few, vast global wealth coexisting with widespread hunger and poverty, a growing awareness of ecological threats paired with an unwillingness to curb selfish consumption, and the persistent, tragic illusion that war can build peace. Amid these imbalances, he stressed that the Church must listen to humanity’s deepest questions while pointing to Christ as the ultimate focal point of history.
Reflecting on the vision of Pope St. John XXIII at the opening of Vatican II, Pope Leo reminded the faithful not to view the present era as worse than the past, but rather to recognize Divine Providence working through human history—even through adverse events. Just as Jesus Christ shared in human existence through the Incarnation, the Pope concluded, the Church is called to fully immerse itself in the human experience, walking alongside society to offer hope, service, and spiritual direction.