Homily of Pope Leo XIV at Holy Mass with the Cardinals in the Sixtine Chapel – Friday, 9 May 2025
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16).
I would like to repeat the words of the Responsorial Psalm: “I will sing a new song to the Lord, because he has done wonders.” And indeed, not only with me but with all of us.
My brother Cardinals, as we celebrate this morning, I invite you to recognize the wonders that the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out on all of us through the ministry of Peter.
You have called me to carry this cross, and to be blessed with this mission, and I know that I can count on each and every one of you to walk with me, as we continue as a Church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers to proclaim the Good News, to proclaim the Gospel.
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16).
With these words, Peter, asked by the Master, together with the other disciples, about their faith in him, expressed the patrimony that the Church, through the apostolic succession, has preserved, deepened and transmitted for two thousand years.
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God: the only Savior, who alone reveals the face of the Father. In him, in order to make himself close and accessible to men and women, God revealed himself to us in the trusting eyes of a child, in the spirit of a youth and in the mature features of a man (Gaudium et Spes, 22 – see Footnote below), and finally, after the resurrection, appeared to his disciples with his glorious body. He thus showed us a model of human holiness that we can all imitate, together with the promise of an eternal destiny that transcends all our limits and abilities.
Peter understood both of these things in his response: the gift of God and the path to follow in order to allow himself to be changed by that gift.
These two aspects of salvation are inseparable and have been entrusted to the Church to be proclaimed for the good of the human race.
In fact, they have been entrusted to us, who were chosen by God before we were born (Jer 1:5 – “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”), reborn in the waters of baptism, and brought here and sent forth, despite our limitations and despite our own lack of merit, so that the gospel might be proclaimed to every creature.
(Mk 16:15 – Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.).
God has called me, through your election, to succeed the Prince of the Apostles. He has entrusted me with this treasure so that, with His help, I may faithfully administer it (1 Cor 4:2 –it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy) for the good of the entire Mystical Body of the Church.
He has done so that she may ever more fully be a city set on a hill (Rev 21:10 – In the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God), an ark of salvation sailing through the waters of history and a beacon illuminating the dark nights of this world.
This will not be achieved through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings, like the monuments among which we find ourselves, but rather through the holiness of her members.
We are the people whom God has chosen as his own so that we may proclaim the wonderful deeds of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9 – you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light).
However, Peter makes his profession of faith in reply to a specific question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Mt 16:13 –when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?”).
The question is significant. It concerns an essential aspect of our ministry, namely, the world in which we live, with all its limitations and its potential, its questions and its convictions.
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
Reflecting on the scene, we might find two possible answers, which characterize two different attitudes.
First, there is the world’s response.
Matthew tells us that this conversation between Jesus and his disciples tool place in the beautiful town of Caesarea Philippi. Set in a magnificent natural landscape at the foot of Mount Hermon, the town was filled with luxurious palaces, but it was also a place of cruel power plays, betrayals and infidelity.
This setting speaks to us of a world that considers Jesus to be completely insignificant, at best someone with an unusual and striking way of speaking and acting.
Once his presence becomes irksome because of his demands for honesty and his stern moral requirements, this “world” will not hesitate to reject and eliminate him.
The other possible response to Jesus’ question comes from ordinary people.
For them, the Nazarene is not a charlatan, but an honorable man who is courageous, eloquent and says the right things, like other great prophets in the history of Israel.
This is why they follow him, at least for as long as it is not too risky or inconvenient.
However, they see him only as a man, and therefore, in times of danger during his Passion, they abandon him too, departing disappointed.
What is striking about these two attitudes is how relevant they are today.
They embody ideas that could easily be heard from many men and women today, even though they are essentially identical but expressed in different language.
Even today, the Christian faith is considered absurd in many settings, seen as something for the weak and unintelligent.
These are settings where other securities are favored, such as technology, money, success, power or pleasure..
These are contexts in which it is difficult to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth,
where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied.
But precisely for this reason, these are the places where our missionary outreach is most needed.
A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by a loss of meaning in life, neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, and a crisis of the family and as well as many other issues that afflict our society.
Today, Jesus is often appreciated as a man, but reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman.
This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living in a state of practical atheism at this level..
This is the world that has been entrusted to us. Pope Francis has taught us many times that we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Savior.
Therefore, we too must repeat Peter’s words: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”.
First of all, it is essential to do this in our personal relationship with the Lord and in our commitment to a daily journey of conversion.
We must also do so as a Church, experiencing our shared fidelity to the Lord together and bringing the Good News to all (see Lumen Gentium, 1 in footnote below).
First and foremost, I say this to myself as the Successor of Peter, as I embark on my mission as Bishop of Rome. According to the well-known words of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, I am called to preside over the universal Church in charity (cf. Letter to the Romans, Prologue).
St. Ignatius, who was led in chains to this city, to face martyrdom, wrote to the Christians there: “Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world no longer sees my body” (Letter to the Romans, IV, 1).
Ignatius was speaking about being devoured by wild beasts in the arena – which in fact happened – but his words apply more generally to an indispensable commitment of all those in the Church who exercise a ministry of authority.
This means moving aside so that Christ may remain; making oneself small so that he may be known and glorified (Jn 3:30 – He must increase, but I must decrease); and spending oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him.
May God grant me this grace, today and always, through the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church.
Footnote: 1 Gaudium et Spes 22
22. The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. For Adam, the first man, was a figure of Him Who was to come, (20) namely Christ the Lord. Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear. It is not surprising, then, that in Him all the aforementioned truths find their root and attain their crown.
He Who is “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15), (21) is Himself the perfect man. To the sons of Adam He restores the divine likeness which had been disfigured from the first sin onward. Since human nature as He assumed it was not annulled, (22) by that very fact it has been raised up to a divine dignity in our respect too. For by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man. He worked with human hands, He thought with a human mind, acted by human choice (23) and loved with a human heart. Born of the Virgin Mary, He has truly been made one of us, like us in all things except sin. (24)
As an innocent lamb He merited for us life by the free shedding of His own blood. In Him God reconciled us(25) to Himself and among ourselves; from bondage to the devil and sin He delivered us, so that each one of us can say with the Apostle: The Son of God “loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20). By suffering for us He not only provided us with an example for our imitation, (26) He blazed a trail, and if we follow it, life and death are made holy and take on a new meaning.
Footnote: 2 Lumen Gentium, 11. Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature,(1) to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church. Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race, it desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and to the whole world its own inner nature and universal mission. This it intends to do following faithfully the teaching of previous councils. The present- day conditions of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church so that all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ.
