- 26 August, 2026
Italy, August 26, 2026: Calling the Church to rediscover the central place of the liturgy in Christian formation, Pope Leo XIV has urged a stronger connection between catechesis and liturgical celebration so that Christian initiation may lead people to Christ.
The Pope sent his greetings to participants of Italy’s 76th National Liturgical Week, being held in Catania, Italy, from August 24 to 27. This year’s event is centred on the theme, “A Church that generates: Liturgy and Christian Initiation.”
In a message signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, Pope Leo described the theme as being of “particular importance” for the Church today.
The Pope stressed that Christian initiation should not be understood merely as “preparation for the Sacraments.” Rather, he described it as the “womb” in which a community gives birth to faith and communion with the Lord.
Pope Leo recalled the unity between catechesis and celebration present in the Church from its beginnings, when the first Christians “devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” He therefore called on Christian communities to return to this source by strengthening the place of the liturgy in Christian formation.
“In the liturgy,” Pope Leo said, “the mystery of Christ takes hold of us, transforms us, and causes us to be born as new creatures.”
Drawing on his catecheses concerning the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium , the Pope described Christian liturgical rites as “the ecclesial mediation through which the divine gift reaches us.”
He said this understanding requires the Church to recover the deeper meaning of liturgical gestures and symbols as expressions of actuosa participatio, or the active participation of the faithful.
Catholics, particularly those beginning their journey of faith, should therefore be introduced to forms of celebration that open their hearts to God’s action.
Pope Leo also reflected on the communal dimension of the liturgy, saying that it forms Christians in communion because it is celebrated as the action of one ecclesial body. This requires respect and fidelity towards the rites.
He encouraged pastors and catechists to teach people to appreciate the “sober solemnity of liturgical gestures” and to help them understand and experience their meaning in all its richness.
The Pope also called the liturgy “a privileged place for listening to the Word of God” through the proclamation of Sacred Scripture.
Concluding his message, Pope Leo XIV urged pastoral leaders in the Church to foster welcome, mystagogy and witness of life.
“Only in this way,” he said, “will faith, born from the altar, be able to reach the streets of humanity, bearing fruits of goodness, reconciliation, and peace.”
Courtesy: Vatican News
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