Marking the 175th anniversary of La Civiltà Cattolica, Pope Leo XIV urged the Jesuit review’s writers and collaborators to embrace their mission as transmitters of Christian hope. Speaking to the editorial staff in Rome, the Pope stressed that their work must always reflect “the gaze of Christ upon the world” and bear witness to it, according to Vatican News.
Founded in 1850 at the request of Blessed Pope Pius IX, La Civiltà Cattolica has long served as a Catholic lens through which history, politics, culture, science, and art are examined. Pope Leo thanked the community for what he called their “centuries-long faithful and generous service to the Holy See,” affirming that their work continues to make the Church present in the world of culture in harmony with the Pope and the Holy See.
Three Calls for the Future
Pope Leo outlined three areas of reflection that should guide the publication’s mission today: educating readers for intelligent engagement with society, giving voice to the excluded, and being heralds of hope.
On education, he told the community: “What you write can help your readers better understand the complex society in which we live, evaluating its strengths and weaknesses” (Vatican News). He noted that this kind of writing enables Catholics to engage with social equity, family life, technological change, and peace in meaningful ways.
Turning to the excluded, Pope Leo emphasized the responsibility of Christians to be a voice for the voiceless. “Only in this way,” he said, “is it possible to become a faithful and prophetic echo of the voice of those in need, breaking every circle of isolation, loneliness, and deafness,” according to Vatican News.
Finally, he reminded the staff that their mission must be rooted in hope: “This means standing against the indifference of those who remain insensitive to others and to their legitimate need for a future.” For the Church, he added, “the ultimate hope is Christ, our way: ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life’ (Jn 14:6).”
Christ’s Gaze on the World
Pope Leo also recalled the words of Pope Francis, who once told the review that a Catholic journal is truly authentic only if it “has Christ’s gaze on the world, and if it transmits and bears witness to that gaze” (Vatican News). Echoing this, Pope Leo summarized their mission as: “to perceive the gaze of Christ upon the world, to cultivate it, to communicate it, and to bear witness to it.”
In a time when news often spreads fear or despair, Pope Leo XIV’s message is clear: Catholic journalism must not only analyze events but also remind the world that God’s providence holds firm, and that true hope is always found in Christ.
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