Pope at Audience: The Word of God Is the Guide for Our Existence

Vatican, Jan 28, 2026: Reflecting on the central role of the Word of God in the life of the Church, Pope Leo XIV continued his catechesis on the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum during his Wednesday General Audience on January 28, 2026. He emphasised the inseparable relationship between Sacred Scripture and Tradition, describing them as a living guide for believers navigating history and human life.

“The ‘deposit’ of the Word of God is still in the hands of the Church and all of us, in our various ecclesial ministries, must continue to preserve it in its integrity, as a lodestar for our journey through the complexity of history and existence,” the Pope said.

Scripture and Tradition: One Living Source

Continuing his reflections on Dei Verbum, Pope Leo explained that Divine Revelation is handed on through both Sacred Scripture and Tradition, united by the work of the Holy Spirit. The Word of God, he noted, is not fixed in the past but remains alive within the Church. “It is not fossilized, but rather it is a living and organic reality that develops and grows in Tradition,” he said, adding that the Holy Spirit enables the Church to understand and express it within changing historical contexts.

To illustrate this unity, the Pope referred to two Gospel scenes: Jesus’ promise in the Upper Room that the Holy Spirit would guide the disciples “into all the truth,” and the Risen Christ’s command to proclaim His teachings to all nations. These moments, he explained, reveal how Christ’s words are transmitted across generations.

Quoting Dei Verbum, Pope Leo recalled that Scripture and Tradition “both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end.”

The Word Handed On Through the Church

The Pope noted that ecclesial Tradition unfolds through the life of the Church, which preserves, interprets, and lives the Word of God. In this context, he cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church, recalling that “Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church’s heart rather than in documents and records.”

He further explained that Apostolic Tradition develops with the assistance of the Holy Spirit through contemplation and study by believers, deeper spiritual experience, and especially through the preaching ministry of the successors of the apostles, who have received “the sure gift of truth.” As he reiterated, “the Church, in Her teaching, life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations all that She Herself is, all that She believes.”

One Sacred Deposit of Faith

To underline the living nature of revelation, Pope Leo quoted St. John Henry Newman, who described Christianity as a dynamic reality that grows from within, like the seed in Christ’s parables.

He concluded by recalling Dei Verbum’s teaching that “‘Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church’, interpreted by the ‘living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ’.” Emphasising the responsibility this entails, the Pope noted that Scripture and Tradition are so closely linked that neither can stand alone, and together, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they serve the salvation of souls.

Courtesy: Vatican News