Pope at Audience: 'The Church is the mystery made perceptible'

Vatican, 18 Feb, 2026: During his Wednesday General Audience on Ash Wednesday, Pope Leo continued his reflections on the Second Vatican Council, moving from Dei Verbum, which he had earlier described as “one of the most beautiful and important” conciliar texts, to the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, where he highlighted the Council’s effort to clarify the Church’s origin and identity, stating that "The Church is the mystery made perceptible."

Recalling earlier catechises, the Pope noted that they had explored various dimensions of Divine Revelation, particularly how God chose to make Himself known. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, God revealed the loving design of His plan to draw all humanity into communion with Him. It is only within this divine plan, the Pope explained, that the foundation and mission of the Church can truly be understood.

Lumen Gentium and the meaning of “mystery”

Reflecting on the Council’s intention, Pope Leo pointed out that when Vatican II described the Church in Lumen Gentium, promulgated on 21 November 1964, it deliberately adopted the term “mystery” from the Letters of Saint Paul.

He clarified that the Council did not use the word to imply something obscure or unintelligible. On the contrary, he explained, when Saint Paul employs the term—particularly in the Letter to the Ephesians—he refers to a reality once hidden but now disclosed.

The Pope emphasised that this mystery concerns God’s saving design, which aims “to unify all creatures thanks to the reconciliatory action of Jesus Christ, an action that was accomplished in his death on the cross.”

This reality, he added, is experienced most clearly in the liturgical assembly. There, distinctions lose their divisive force, and what truly matters is being gathered together, drawn by the love of Christ who dismantled the barriers separating individuals and communities.

Christ’s action restores unity

Drawing again on Saint Paul, the Holy Father explained that the “mystery” signifies the fulfilment of God’s plan for all humanity, first revealed in concrete local communities and gradually extending to embrace all people and even the entire cosmos.

He observed that humanity today remains deeply fragmented and incapable of repairing its own divisions, despite an innate longing for unity. Into this broken condition, he said, the saving work of Christ enters through the power of the Holy Spirit, overcoming forces of division.

The experience of coming together to celebrate the faith, having accepted the proclamation of the Gospel, reflects the attraction of Christ’s Cross—the supreme sign of God’s love. It is an experience of being summoned by God Himself. For this reason, he noted, the term ekklesía is used, referring to an assembly of those who recognise they have been called together.

From this perspective, the Pope underscored that "there is a certain coincidence between this mystery and the Church: the Church is the mystery made perceptible."

A visible sign and effective instrument

In concluding his reflection, Pope Leo described the Church as both a visible sign and an effective instrument of God’s saving plan.

It is a sign because the unity established by Christ through His Cross and Resurrection becomes visible in the Christian community. It is an instrument because, through the Church, God continues to accomplish His purpose of drawing humanity into communion with Himself and with one another.

As the faithful continue their journey through a world still marked by division, the Pope invited them to pray that the Lord may guide the Church in her mission of sanctification and reconciliation.

Courtesy: Vatican News