Pope to Religious: Even Where Weapons Roar, You Are Witnesses to Jesus

Vatican, Feb 3, 2026: Commending consecrated men and women for their steadfast faith amid hardship, Pope Leo XIV urged them to be leavens of peace and signs of hope in a world marked by conflict and division, as he celebrated Mass for the 30th World Day for Consecrated Life.

"Through your commitment to follow Christ more closely — sharing in his self-emptying and in his life in the Spirit — you can show the world the way to overcome conflict, sowing fraternity through the freedom of those who love and forgive without measure."

The Pope made these remarks during the Mass celebrated on Monday for the World Day for Consecrated Life, an observance instituted in 1997 by Pope Saint John Paul II and marked annually on 2 February, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

Reflecting on the feast, Pope Leo recalled how St. Luke’s Gospel describes Simeon and Anna recognising and proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah in the Temple. He noted, "What unfolds before us is a meeting between two movements of love: that of God, who comes to save his people, and that of humanity, which awaits his coming with vigilant faith."

With this scene as a backdrop, the Pope said the celebration offers an image of the vocation and mission of consecrated persons within the Church and the world.

Offering everything to God

Pope Leo pointed to founders and foundresses who, attentive to the action of the Holy Spirit, provided enduring models of faithful and effective service.

Living in the tension between earth and heaven, he observed how "they allowed themselves to be guided with faith and courage."

"Setting out from the Eucharistic table, some were led to the silence of the cloister, others to the demands of the apostolate; some to the classrooms of schools, others to the destitution of the streets or the toil of the missions."

A prayerful presence in hostile environments

That same faith, he said, drew them repeatedly, "time and again, humbly and wisely," to the foot of the Cross and to the Tabernacle, "where they offered everything and discovered in God both the source and the goal of all their actions."

Strengthened by grace, they also undertook perilous missions. "They became a prayerful presence in hostile or indifferent environments; a generous hand and a friendly shoulder amid degradation and abandonment; and witnesses of peace and reconciliation in situations marked by violence and hatred."

Prepared to go against the current

"They were ready," the Pope stressed, "to bear the consequences of going against the current, becoming, in Christ, a 'sign of contradiction,' sometimes even to the point of martyrdom."

He recalled Pope Benedict XVI’s teaching in the post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini that “the interpretation of sacred Scripture would remain incomplete were it not to include listening to those who have truly lived the word of God.”

In this light, Pope Leo said, "Today, we honor our brothers and sisters who have gone before us as protagonists of this 'prophetic tradition,' and do so above all by carrying forward their legacy."

Guarding against reductive views of the human person

The Holy Father noted that even today, through their profession of the evangelical counsels and their many works of charity, consecrated persons "are called to bear witness to God’s saving presence in history for all peoples, even within a society in which false and reductive understandings of the human person increasingly widen the gap between faith and life."

"You are called to testify that the young, the elderly, the poor, the sick and the imprisoned hold a sacred place above all else on God’s altar and in his heart," he said, adding, "At the same time, each of them is an inviolable sanctuary of God’s presence, before whom we must bend our knee, in order to encounter him, adore him and give him glory."

Even where weapons roar, religious communities remain

Pointing to the many “outposts of the Gospel” established by religious communities in difficult and dangerous contexts, including conflict zones, Pope Leo stressed their faithful presence.

"These communities do not abandon their people, nor do they flee; they remain, often stripped of all security, as a living reminder — more eloquent than words — of the inviolable sacredness of life in its most vulnerable conditions."

"Even where weapons roar and arrogance, self-interest and violence seem to prevail," he observed, "their presence proclaims the words of Jesus: 'Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones, for... in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father.'"

The Pope also recalled the Second Vatican Council’s teaching that “the Church... will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven... At that time, together with the human race, the universe itself... will be perfectly established in Christ.”

This prophetic vision, he said, also concerns consecrated men and women, who remain firmly rooted in present realities while staying attentive to what is above, recalling that Christ died and rose to "free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death."

Concluding, Pope Leo expressed the Church’s gratitude for consecrated life, encouraging religious to be leaven of peace and signs of hope wherever Providence leads them.

"As we renew the offering of our lives to God upon the altar," he prayed, "we entrust your work to the intercession of Mary Most Holy, together with all your holy founders and foundresses..."

Courtesy: Vatican News