Pope to Bishops: Be Prophets of Peace in our Fractured World

Vatican, Nov 21, 2025: During his visit on Thursday to the hill town of Assisi, Pope Leo XIV closed the 81st General Assembly of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, where he urged Bishops to keep Christ at the centre of their mission and to offer effective pastoral care, especially to families, young people, the elderly, and the poor. He said the first call is “to look to Jesus,” insisting that “more than ever, we need to place Christ at the centre.”

The four-day gathering, held from 17–20 Nov. 2025, brought together Bishops from across Italy to reflect on pastoral priorities, safeguarding, and Catholic education. Their discussions drew on insights from the recently completed Synodal Path, with pastoral guidelines to be finalised at the May 2026 General Assembly.

Pope Leo expressed his delight to be in Assisi, even “very briefly,” saying it is a “highly significant place for the message of faith, fraternity, and peace that it conveys, of which the world has urgent need.” He recalled St Francis of Assisi’s “bold and persevering faith,” and prayed that his example would give the Bishops the “strength to make choices inspired by an authentic faith…”

Called to look to Jesus

Pope Leo’s central recommendation was to follow Christ and be guided by Him. “To look to Jesus is the first thing to which we also are called. The reason for our being here, in fact, is faith in Him, crucified and risen.” He repeated his words from June, stressing that “in this time we have more than ever the need to place Jesus Christ at the centre and, on the road indicated by Evangelii gaudium, to help people to live a personal relationship with Him, to discover the joy of the Gospel.”

In this “time of great fragmentation,” the Holy Father said it is essential to “return to the foundations of our faith, to the kerygma.” This applies first to the Bishops, who must “start again from the act of faith that makes us recognise in Christ the Saviour and that is expressed in all the areas of daily life.” Keeping their gaze fixed on the Face of Jesus, he said, enables them to look at the faces of their brothers and sisters. “It is His love that drives us toward them. And faith in Him, our peace, asks us to offer all the gift of His peace.”

We are to transmit the Lord’s peace

The Pope said we live in a time “marked by fractures,” both nationally and internationally. “Messages and languages tuned to hostility and violence often spread; the race to efficiency leaves behind the most fragile; technological omnipotence compresses freedom; solitude consumes hope, while numerous uncertainties weigh like unknowns upon our future.”

“And yet,” he said, “the Word and the Spirit exhort us still to be artisans of friendship, of fraternity, of authentic relationships in our communities.” He urged them, “without reticence and fears,” to “listen to and harmonise tensions,” to “develop a culture of encounter,” and to become “prophecy of peace for the world.” He reminded them that when the Risen One appears to His disciples, His first words are, “Peace be with you,” and he said this message is meant for all.

Recommendations to care for the faithful

The Pope recalled that in June he had “indicated some coordinates for being a Church that embodies the Gospel and is a sign of the Kingdom of God,” such as “proclaiming the message of salvation, building peace, promoting human dignity, the culture of dialogue, and the Christian anthropological vision.” He said these demands “correspond to the perspectives that emerged” in the Synodal Path.

“You Bishops,” he said, “are to trace the pastoral lines for the coming years,” and he offered suggestions “to help a truly synodal spirit grow and mature” in the Church in Italy.

Synodality: walking with Christ

He reaffirmed that “synodality indicates the walking together of Christians with Christ and toward the Kingdom of God, in union with all humanity.” From the Lord, he said, comes “the grace of communion that animates and gives form to our human and ecclesial relationships.” He called for a shared commitment so that “the face of a collegial Church may take shape, one that shares common steps and choices.”

“What counts,” the Holy Father said, “is that, in this synodal style, we learn to work together” and build Christian communities that are “open, hospitable, and welcoming,” where relationships become “mutual co-responsibility in favour of the proclamation of the Gospel.”

Stay close to families, the elderly, the poor

He said the Church must “live among the people, welcome their questions, soothe their sufferings, share their hopes.” He urged them: “Continue to stay close to families, to young people, to the elderly, to those who live in solitude. Continue to commit yourselves in the care of the poor.”

He called on Bishops to stay close to “the smallest and most vulnerable,” so that a culture of preventing every form of abuse may grow. “The welcoming and listening of victims are the authentic trait of a Church that, in community conversion, knows how to recognise wounds and commits itself to soothe them.” He thanked them for their efforts and encouraged them to continue protecting minors and vulnerable adults.

The Holy Father concluded by encouraging the Bishops to go forward with faith, strengthened—as St Francis of Assisi was—by Christ.

Courtesy: Vatican News