ARTICLE – Pope Leo XIV on Evangelization and Mission

July 31, 2025 by Pierre-Alain Giffard News, Recommended Texts

Pope Leo XIV has consistently emphasized the Church’s missionary dimension and the importance of evangelization in his early pontificate. He sees mission as the fundamental aspect of the Church’s identity and a priority for his Petrine ministry.

Continuing the Path of Evangelization
Pope Leo XIV has expressed his commitment to continuing the path set forth by his predecessors, particularly Pope Francis, in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. He highlights several fundamental points from this document that guide the Church’s missionary efforts:

Primacy of Christ in proclamation: The central role of Christ in the message being proclaimed.
Missionary conversion of the entire Christian community: The call for all members of the Church to embrace a missionary spirit.
Growth in collegiality and synodality: The importance of shared responsibility and journeying together in mission.
Attention to the sensus fidei: Recognizing the authentic sense of faith among the faithful, especially in popular piety.
Loving care for the least and the rejected: A preferential option for the poor and marginalized in evangelization.
Courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world: Engaging with various components and realities of modern society.

These principles, he states, are evangelical and have always inspired the life and activity of God’s Family, revealing the merciful face of the Father in His incarnate Son.

The Church as a Missionary Body
Pope Leo XIV views the Church, in all its members, as increasingly called to be “a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word… and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.” The goal is to bring to all peoples the Gospel promise of true and lasting peace, which is possible because Christ has overcome the world. He stresses the urgency of fostering a spirit of missionary discipleship in all the baptized. His own pastoral experience, including his time as a missionary in Peru, has deeply shaped his spiritual life and understanding of mission. He sees his call to serve in the Roman Curia as a new mission.

Role of Lay Associations and Movements
The Pope specifically calls upon lay associations, ecclesial movements, and new communities to cooperate faithfully and generously with the Pope in unity and mission. He emphasizes that these groups have a fundamental role in evangelization, possessing many generous and well-trained individuals with “hands-on” experience. He urges them to place their talents at the service of the Church’s mission, reaching out to those who are distant but may be waiting to hear God’s word of life.

Evangelizing with Families
Pope Leo XIV highlights the crucial role of families in evangelization. He notes that families are the “primary nucleus of the Church” and are entrusted with the transmission of faith and the Gospel, especially to new generations. He acknowledges the profound thirst for the infinite in every human heart, which means parents have a duty to make their children aware of God’s fatherhood.

He recognizes that many people today, including young people, are searching for spirituality and authentic relationships, yet often do not hear the invitation to encounter God. He warns against the “privatization” of faith, which prevents many from knowing the richness of the Church. The Church’s pastoral and missionary outreach is driven by the desire to be a “fisher” of humanity, saving it from evil through an encounter with Christ.

Pope Leo XIV encourages showing young people, especially through example, the gift of sacramental grace and the strength derived from Christian marriage. He also stresses the need for communities to support parents in creating conditions for their children to encounter Jesus. He reminds the faithful that faith is primarily a response to God’s love, and that presenting Christian life merely as a set of rules, rather than an encounter with Jesus, can make it burdensome and unappealing. He calls on both bishops and the laity to be “fishers of families,” walking with those who are spiritually distant and helping them embrace the faith.

Addressing Contemporary Challenges
Pope Leo XIV acknowledges that the contemporary world, wounded by war, violence, and injustice, needs to hear the Gospel message of God’s love and experience the reconciling power of Christ’s grace. He notes that while many seem to have drifted from faith, there is a deep thirst for the infinite and for salvation, especially among young people. He calls for a renewed missionary impulse to propose the Gospel of Jesus with courage and love.

He also connects evangelization to the Church’s social teaching, noting that his choice of the name Leo XIV was partly inspired by Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, which addressed the social question during the first industrial revolution. Pope Leo XIV sees the Church’s social teaching as a response to the current industrial revolution and developments in artificial intelligence, which pose new challenges for human dignity, justice, and labor. He emphasizes that helping the poor is a matter of justice before charity, and that labor, education, housing, and health are foundations of security not attained by arms. He urges listening to the voice of the poor and recognizing them as agents of the Church’s social doctrine.

Conclusion
In summary, Pope Leo XIV’s vision for evangelization and mission is deeply rooted in the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and his immediate predecessors. He calls for a Church that is actively outgoing, unified in its mission, and attentive to the needs of families and the marginalized, all while courageously proclaiming Christ in a world facing new and complex challenges.

References

To the Moderators of Lay Associations, Ecclesial Movements and New Communities (6 June 2025) – Speech / Pope Leo XIV

Meeting of the Holy Father with Employees of the Holy See and the Vatican City State (24 May 2025) / Pope Leo XIV

Address of the Holy Father to the College of Cardinals (10 May 2025) / Pope Leo XIV

To Members of Pontifical Mission Societies (22 May 2025) / Pope Leo XIV

Message of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to Participants in the Seminar “Evangelizing with the Families of Today and Tomorrow: Ecclesiological and Pastoral Challenges”, organized by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life (28 Mai 2025)

To Participants in the Meeting of Priests promoted by the Dicastery for the Clergy (26 June 2025) / Pope Leo XIV

To Members of the Diplomatic Corps (16 May 2025) / Pope Leo XIV

Message of the Holy Father for the 9th World Day of the Poor [16 November 2025] (13 June 2025) 6 / Pope Leo XIV
To the members of the “Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice” Foundation (17 May 2025) / Pope Leo XIV

Pierre-Alain Giffard
pierre.alain.giffard@gmail.com

Recommended books:

BOOK – Revive and Thrive: Transforming Parishes into Mission Driven Communities provides a blueprint to breathe new life into parish communities and engage in the core principles of evangelization and disciple-making.
BOOK – Your Faith Has Made You Well: Discovering God’s Power for Healing. A guide to unlocking a life of faith and confidence in God for healing.

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