Pope Leo XIV issued messages on Monday to the clergy in anticipation of the Christmas holiday, emphasizing the importance of friendship and community to sustain the work of the Church.
The pope, serving during his first Advent as the Archbishop of Rome, addressed the Roman Curia on Monday, urging them to help build the “new humanity” heralded by the arrival of Jesus Christ among humanity. He warned of the potential of “rigidity or ideology” diluting the work of the Church and the detrimental effect of “the digital sphere and politics” in building connections of love between people.
Pope Leo also published an Apostolic Letter reminding priests, bishops and deacons that their missions are “never a purely individual path” and “no shepherd exists alone.”
“Christmas reminds us that Jesus came to reveal the true face of God as Father, so that we might all become his children and therefore brothers and sisters to one another,” the pope said during his address to the Roman Curia. “The Father’s love, embodied and revealed by Jesus in his liberating actions and preaching, enables us, in the Holy Spirit, to be a sign of a new humanity — no longer founded on selfishness and individualism, but on mutual love and solidarity.”
He lamented that the Catholic Church is operating in a “world wounded by discord, violence and conflict, where we also witness a growth in aggression and anger, often exploited by both the digital sphere and politics.” In this climate, he continued, friendship is vital.
To the Curia directly, the pope lamented that frustration and bitterness can grow when “certain dynamics – linked to the exercise of power, the desire to prevail, or the pursuit of personal interests – are slow to change.”
“We then ask ourselves: is it possible to be friends in the Roman Curia? To have relationships of genuine fraternal friendship?” he asked. “Amid daily toil, it is a grace to find trustworthy friends, where masks fall away, no one is used or sidelined, genuine support is offered, and each person’s worth and competence are respected, preventing resentment and dissatisfaction.”
“Such relationships call for a personal conversion, so that Christ’s love, which makes us brothers and sisters, may shine through,” he concluded.
Outside of the Church, he added, “in interpersonal relationships, in internal office dynamics, or in addressing questions of faith, liturgy, morality and more besides, there is a risk of falling into rigidity or ideology, with their consequent conflicts.”
Similarly, in a letter on ministry, he urged priests not to seek to do their work in isolation.
“Mutual care, especially attention to our most lonely and isolated brothers, as well as those who are sick and elderly,” he suggested, “cannot be considered less important than the care given to the people entrusted to us.”
The work of a priest, the pope explained, “is never a purely individual path but commits us to caring for one another. This dynamic is always a work of grace that embraces our fragile humanity, healing it from narcissism and selfishness.”
“With faith, hope and charity, we are called to follow Christ every day, placing all our trust in the Lord. Communion, synodality and mission cannot be achieved if, in the hearts of priests, the temptation to self-referentiality does not yield to the mindset of listening and service,” he continued.
The letter identified loneliness as a particular danger and urged that “in all local Churches a renewed commitment may arise to investing in and promoting possible forms of community life.”
Pope Leo has made interpersonal connection the core of his messaging throughout this Advent. On December 20, the head of the Catholic Church called for all believers to “think of someone with whom you can make peace” and move forward with improving that relationship.
“It will be a gift more valuable than those you can buy in stores, because peace is a gift that is truly found only in the heart,” he advised, calling peace “the Catholic action par excellence.”
The pope also warned Christians “not to get caught up in frenetic activity in preparing for the feast,” referring to event planning, gift buying and wrapping, and other stressors that have become tradition in the West.
“Instead,” the pope suggested, “let us take the time to make our hearts attentive and vigilant as we await Jesus, so that His loving presence may become the treasure of our lives and hearts forever.”
Pope Leo is expected to celebrate two Masses this week for Christmas, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, in addition to obligations for the New Year and Epiphany, on January 6.
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