Illustration:20th-century Greek icon depicting St. Irenaeus
Catechesis of Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo’s Jubilee Audience 1
St. Peter’s Basilica – Saturday, 14 June 2025
“To hope is to unite. Irenaeus of Lyons”
Irenaeus is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Lutheran Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East.
He was declared a Doctor of the Church in the Catholic Church by Pope Francis in 2022.[11]
Pope Leo’s Jubilee Audience 1: St. Irenaeus
In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Peace be with you!
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The special Jubilee audiences that Pope Francis had begun in January resume this morning, each time proposing a particular aspect of the theological virtue of hope and a spiritual figure who bore witness to it. Let us therefore continue on the path we have begun, as pilgrims of hope!
We are gathered by the hope transmitted by the Apostles from the very beginning.
The Apostles saw in Jesus the earth united with heaven: with their eyes, ears and hands they welcomed the Word of life.
The Jubilee is an open door to this mystery.
The Jubilee Year unites God’s world with ours .
It encourages us to take seriously what we pray for every day: ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’
And this is our hope.
This is the aspect we would like to explore today: to hope is to unite.
One of the greatest Christian theologians, Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons, will help us to recognize how beautiful and essential this hope is.
Irenaeus was born in Asia Minor and was educated among those who had known the Apostles directly.
He then came to Europe, because a community of Christians from his homeland had already been established there.
How good it is for us to remember him here, in Rome, in Europe!
The Gospel was brought to this continent from outside.
And even today migrant communities are presences that revive faith in the countries that welcome them.
The Gospel comes from outside.
Irenaeus unites East and West.
This is already a sign of hope, because it reminds us how nations continue to enrich one another.
Irenaeus, however, has an even greater treasure to share with us.
He was not discouraged by the doctrinal divisions he encountered within the bosom of the Christian community, internal conflicts and external persecution.
On the contrary, in a broken world, he learned to think better, focusing his attention ever more deeply on Jesus. He became a singer of His person, or rather of His body.
He recognized, in fact, that in him what seems opposite to us is recomposed in unity.
Jesus is not the wall that separates, but the door that unites us.
One must abide in Him and distinguish reality from ideology.
Dear brothers and sisters, even today ideas can drive people mad, and words can kill.
But the body is what we are all made of; it is what binds us to the earth and to other creatures.
The body of Jesus must be accepted and contemplated in every brother and sister, in every creature. Let us listen to the cry of the body, let us hear how the suffering of others calls us by name.
The commandment we have received from the beginning is that of mutual love.
It is written in our body, before in any law.
Irenaeus, teacher of unity, teaches us not to oppose, but to unite.
Wisdom is not where there is division, but where there is unity.
Distinguishing is useful, but never dividing.
Jesus is eternal life among us: he unites opposites and makes communion possible
We are pilgrims of hope because among people, nations and creatures, someone is needed who will decide to follow the path towards communion. Others will follow.
Just as Irenaeus did in Lyon in the second century, so too should do it in each of our cities
Let us return to building bridges where walls stand today.
Let us open doors, unite worlds, and there will be hope
