In a letter to the Cardinals ahead of a late-June Consistory, Pope Leo XIV calls for a deeper reflection on the themes of “Evangelii gaudium,” particularly the reform of the processes of Christian initiation, warning against the temptation of proselytism or a logic of “mere preservation or institutional expansion.”
File photo of Holy Mass with Cardinals participating in Consistory on 8 January
The mission of the Church “is not its own survival, but the communication of the love with which God loves the world.” This was the message at the heart of Pope Leo XIV’s letter to the Cardinals for the Extraordinary Consistory.
The Consistory will take place in the Vatican on June 26 and 27, shortly before the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, and will conclude with a Eucharistic celebration presided over by Pope Leo XIV. The Pope had announced the assembly at the end of the Consistory held on January 7–8.
Pope Leo points to Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, as a continuing point of reference for the Church’s life and mission. He notes that it “refocuses everything on the kerygma as the heart of Christian and ecclesial identity” and describes it as “a ‘breath of fresh air,’ capable of initiating processes of pastoral and missionary conversion.”
The Pope outlines how this perspective calls the Church to renewal on multiple levels. On a personal level, it calls every baptized person “to renew their encounter with Christ, moving from a faith merely received to a faith truly experienced and lived.”
At the community level, it calls for “a shift from a pastoral approach focused on maintenance to a missionary pastoral approach,” in which communities become “living agents of the proclamation,” marked by attention to relationships and openness to accompaniment and healing.
At the diocesan level, the responsibility of pastors is highlighted, ensuring that missionary dynamism is not “weighed down or stifled by organizational impediments” while fostering discernment focused on what is essential.
From these reflections emerges a unified understanding of mission. The Pope describes it as “Christ-centred and kerygmatic,” born from an encounter capable of transforming lives and spreading “through attraction rather than conquest.”
He notes that this mission “conjoins explicit proclamation, witness, commitment, and dialogue,” while avoiding “the temptation of proselytism” and “a logic of mere institutional preservation or expansion.”
Even in contexts where the Church may be a minority, he writes that she is called to live “as a small flock bringing hope to all.”
Looking ahead, the Pope highlights several areas for further reflection. He calls for an honest assessment of what has been received from Evangelii gaudium over time, noting that some aspects remain “unknown and unimplemented.” Among the priorities he identifies are the reform of processes of Christian initiation, the renewed value of apostolic and pastoral visits, and the need “to review the effectiveness of ecclesial communication, including at the level of the Holy See, in a more clearly missionary key.”
[Vatican News]
