Dear sisters and brothers,

In the responsorial Psalm, we have sung, “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord” (cf. Ps 122). Today’s liturgy invites us, therefore, to walk together in praise and joy towards the encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, gentle and humble Sovereign, the One who is the beginning and end of all things. His power is love, his throne the Cross, and through the Cross his Kingdom shines forth upon the world.  “From the wood he reigns” (cf. Hymn Vexilla Regis) as Prince of Peace and King of Justice who, in his Passion, reveals to the world the immense mercy of God’s heart. This love is also the inspiration and motive for your singing.

Dear choristers and musicians, today you celebrate your jubilee and you show thanks to the Lord for granting you the gift and grace to serve him by offering your voices and talents for his glory and for the spiritual edification of your brothers and sisters (cf. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 120).  Your task is to draw others into the praise of God and to help them to participate more fully in the liturgy through song.  Today, you fully express your “iubilum,” your exultation, which flows from hearts overflowing with the joy of grace.

Great civilizations have given us the gift of music in order to express what we carry deep in our hearts and what words cannot always convey.  Music can give expression to the whole range of feelings and emotions that arise within us from a living relationship with reality.  Singing, in particular, constitutes a natural and refined expression of the human being: mind, feelings, body and soul come together to communicate the great events of life.  As Saint Augustine reminded us: “Cantare amantis est” (cf. Sermo 336,1), that is, “singing belongs to those who love.”  Those who sing give expression to love, but also to the pain, tenderness and desire that dwell in their hearts, while at the same time, loving those to whom they address their song (cf. Enarrationes in Psalmos, 72,1).

For the people of God, song expresses invocation and praise. It is the “new song” that the Risen Christ raises to the Father, in which all the baptized participate as one body animated by the new life of the Spirit. In Christ, we become singers of grace, children of the Church who discover in the Risen One the cause of our praise. Liturgical music thus becomes a precious instrument through which we carry out our service of praise to God and express the joy of new life in Christ.

Saint Augustine exhorts us, again, to sing while we walk, like weary travellers who find in song a foretaste of the joy they will experience when they reach their destination. “Sing, but continue your journey […] progress in virtue” (Sermon 256, 3). Being part of a choir means advancing together, therefore, taking our brothers and sisters by the hand and helping them to walk with us. It means singing the praises of God together, consoling our brothers and sisters in their suffering, exhorting them when they seem to give in to fatigue and encouraging them when difficulties seem to prevail. Singing reminds us that we are a Church on a journey, an authentic synodal reality capable of sharing with everyone the vocation to praise and joy on this pilgrimage of love and hope.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch also employs moving words to express the relationship between the song of the choir and the unity of the Church: “From your unity and harmonious love, sing to Jesus Christ. And let each one become a choir, so that being harmonious of your arrangement and taking up the song of God in unison, you may with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ, that he may both hear you and recognize you for your good works” (Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Ephesios, IV). In fact, the different voices of a choir harmonize with each other, giving rise to a single hymn of praise, a luminous symbol of the Church, which unites everyone in love in a single pleasing melody.

You belong to choirs that carry out their ministry primarily in liturgical settings. Yours is a true ministry that requires preparation, commitment, mutual understanding and, above all, a deep spiritual life, so that when you sing, you both pray and help everyone else to pray. This ministry requires discipline and a spirit of service, especially when preparing for a solemn liturgy or an important event in your communities. The choir is a small family of individuals united by their love of music and the service they offer. However, remember that the community is your larger family.  You are not on stage, but rather a part of that community, endeavouring to help it grow in unity by inspiring and engaging its members. As in all families, tensions or minor misunderstandings can arise. These things are normal when working together and striving to achieve a goal. We can say to some extent that the choir symbolizes of the Church, which, striving toward its goal, walks through history praising God. Even when this journey is beset by difficulties and trials and joyful moments give way to more challenging ones, singing makes the journey lighter, providing relief and consolation.

Strive, therefore, to make your choirs ever harmonious and beautiful, and a brighter image of the Church praising her Lord. Study the Magisterium carefully. The conciliar documents set out the norms for carrying out your service in the best possible way. Above all, dedicate yourselves to facilitating the participation of the people of God, without giving in to the temptation of ostentation, which prevents the entire liturgical assembly from actively participating in the singing. In this, be an eloquent sign of the Church’s prayer, expressing its love for God through the beauty of music. Take care that your spiritual life is always worthy of the service you perform, so that your ministry may authentically express the grace of the liturgy.

I place all of you under the protection of Saint Cecilia, the virgin and martyr who raised the most beautiful song of love through her life here in Rome, giving herself entirely to Christ and offering the Church a shining example of faith and love. Let us continue singing and once again make our own the invitation of today’s responsorial psalm: “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”

Dear brothers and sisters!

Before we raise our voices together for the Angelus prayer, I would like to greet all of you who have taken part in this Jubilee celebration, especially the choirs who have come from all over the world. Thank you for your presence! And may the Lord bless your service.

I was deeply saddened to learn of the kidnapping of priests, faithful, and students in Nigeria and Cameroon. I feel great pain, above all for the many young men and women who have been abducted and for their distressed families. I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release. Let us pray for these brothers and sisters of ours, and that churches and schools may always and everywhere remain places of safety and hope.

Today, dioceses around the world are celebrating World Youth Day. I bless and spiritually embrace all those taking part in the various celebrations and initiatives. On the feast of Christ the King, I pray that every young person may discover the beauty and joy of following him, the Lord, and dedicating him or herself to his Kingdom of love, justice and peace.

My Apostolic Journey to Türkiye and Lebanon is now close. In Türkiye, the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea will be celebrated. For this reason, the Apostolic Letter In Unitate Fidei is being published today, commemorating this historic event.

Now let us turn to the Virgin Mary, entrusting all these intentions and our prayer for peace to her maternal intercession.

23.11.25

Pope Leo Holy Mass 23.11.25  

Pope Francis Message for the 58th World Day of Peace 01.01.25

FAMINE

Pope Francis

Hunger

Hunger is an injustice that destroys men and women because they have nothing to eat, even if there is a lot food available in the world. Human exploitation; different forms of slavery; recently I saw a film shot inside a prison where migrants are locked up and tortured to turn them into slaves. This is still happening 70 years after the Declaration of Human Rights. Cultural colonization. This is exactly what the Devil wants, to destroy human dignity – and that is why the Devil is behind all forms of persecution.

01.06.18

Pope Leo General Audience 26.11.25 

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Pope Leo General Audience 19.11.25

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

We are reflecting, in this Jubilee Year dedicated to hope, on the relationship between the Resurrection of Christ and the challenges of the contemporary world, that is, our challenges. At times, Jesus, the Living One, wants to ask us too: “Why do you weep? Who do you seek?”. Indeed, challenges cannot be faced alone and tears are a gift of life when they purify our eyes and liberate our gaze.

John the Evangelist draws to our attention a detail that we do not find in the other Gospels: weeping near the empty tomb, Mary Magdalene did not immediately recognize the risen Jesus, but thought he was the gardener. Indeed, already narrating the burial of Jesus, at sunset on Good Friday, the text was very precise: “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there” (Jn 19:40-41).

Thus, in the peace of the Sabbath and the beauty of a garden, the dramatic struggle between darkness and light that began with the betrayal, arrest, abandonment, condemnation, humiliation and killing of the Son, who “having loved his own who were in the world … loved them to the end” (Jn 13:1), comes to a close. Cultivating and keeping the garden is the original task (cf. Gen 2:15) that Jesus brought to fulfilment. His last words on the cross – “It is finished” (Jn 19:30) – invite each of us to rediscover the same task, our task. For this reason, “he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (v. 30).

Dear brothers and sisters, Mary Magdalene was not entirely mistaken then, believing she had encountered the gardener! Indeed, she had to hear her own name again and understand her task from the new Man, the one who in another text of John says: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:5). Pope Francis, with the Encyclical Laudato si’, showed us the extreme need for a contemplative gaze: if he is not the custodian of the garden, the human being becomes its destroyer. Christian hope therefore responds to the challenges to which all humanity is exposed today by dwelling in the garden where the Crucified One was laid as a seed, to rise again and bear much fruit.

Paradise is not lost, but found again. In this way, the death and resurrection of Jesus are the foundation of a spirituality of integral ecology, outside of which the words of faith have no hold on reality and the words of science remain outside the heart. “Ecological culture cannot be reduced to a series of urgent and partial responses to the immediate problems of pollution, environmental decay and the depletion of natural resources. There needs to be a distinctive way of looking at things, a way of thinking, policies, an educational programme, a lifestyle and a spirituality which together generate resistance” (Laudato si’, 111).

For this reason, we speak of an ecological conversion, which Christians cannot separate from the reversal of course that Jesus asks of them. A sign of this is Mary’s turning around on that Easter morning: only by conversion after conversion do we pass through that vale of tears to the new Jerusalem. This passage, which begins in the heart and is spiritual, changes history, engages us publicly, and activates solidarity that now protects people and creatures from the longings of wolves, in the name and power of the Lamb-Shepherd.

In this way, the sons and daughters of the Church can now meet millions of young people and other men and women of good will who have heard the cry of the poor and the earth, letting it touch their hearts. There are also many people who desire, through a more direct relationship with creation, a new harmony that will lead them beyond so many divisions. On the other hand, still “the heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Ps 18:1-4).

May the Spirit give us the ability to listen to the voice of those who have no voice. We will see, then, what the eyes do not yet see: that garden, or Paradise, which we will only reach by welcoming and fulfilling our own task.

I am happy to welcome this morning the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors, especially those from England, Ireland, Senegal, Uganda, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and the United States of America. A special greeting to the students and faculty from Xavier University of Louisiana and the University of Dallas, Texas. With prayerful good wishes that the present Jubilee of Hope may be for you and your families a time of grace and spiritual renewal, I invoke upon all of you the joy and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

My blessing to you all!

19.11.25

Pope Leo – November  2025

For the prevention of suicide

How do we receive the Word of God? The response is clear: As one receives Jesus Christ. The Church tells us that Jesus is present in the Scripture, in His Word.

Always carry a small Gospel with you in your purse, in your pocket, and read a passage from the Gospel during the day. Not so much to learn something, but mostly to find Jesus, because Jesus actually is in His Word, in His Gospel.  Every time I read the Gospel, I find Jesus.  - Pope Francis 01.09.14

Daily Readings - read the entire New Testament over a 2 year period (reading plan courtesy of Gideon International)

The Bible Online

Thank you, Francis

Every month, you have invited us to pray with you for the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church, teaching us to learn compassion for others from the heart of Christ. Thank you, Francis, for your life and your witness.

Your Worldwide Prayer Network.

Pope Francis Easter Message and Urbi et Orbi Blessing   20.04.25

Easter Sunday

for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Pope Francis

Care for Our Common Home - Laudato Si'

Pope Francis 

Refugees and Migrants

Pope Francis

 Marriage

Pope Francis - The ‘foreverness’ and beauty of Love 

Pope Francis - The Family in the Light of the Word of God

Pope Francis 

Fraternity

Pope Francis

Compassion

Pope Francis

Happiness

Pope Leo Holy Mass 16.11.25