Pope Leo XIV: Church Must Help People Confront Life’s Profound Questions

Vatican City, October 7, 2026: Pope Leo XIV has said the Church’s mission in the contemporary world is to help people reflect on the profound questions of life, including human origins and destiny, and the meaning of love and suffering.

Speaking during the weekly General Audience, the Pope continued his catechesis on the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, focusing on the fourth chapter of its first part.

Pope Leo contrasted the Church’s mission with the pressure in modern society to conform to “a lifestyle centred on the consumption of material goods”. Instead, he said, “our hearts are made to look upwards”.

The Pope also stressed that the Church contributes to “the construction of the earthly city” through faith and charity, as well as commitment to justice, peace and fraternity. He said the Church cannot accept “the oppression of the weak and the poor” or unjust structures that perpetuate dependence and injustice.

Christians, he added, are called to work with all people of good will in promoting the common good, guided by the Church’s social teaching.

Pope Leo also highlighted the importance of consistency between faith and daily life. Referring to Gaudium et spes, he noted that the gap between “professed faith and daily life” is among “the more serious errors of our age”.

The Pope underlined the particular mission of the lay faithful, who are called to bring evangelical values into every sphere of life, including the family and workplace.

He further called on the whole People of God, especially pastors and theologians, to engage with contemporary cultures while remaining faithful to the Word of God and the Tradition of the Church.

Concluding his catechesis, Pope Leo said the Church’s mission of bringing about the Kingdom of God and the salvation of humanity is accomplished “above all through personal holiness [and] fraternal love”.

“Let us therefore be open to the action of the Holy Spirit,” he said, “that He may help us to live in holiness and charity, so that the world may believe and hope.”

Courtesy: Vatican News