Pope Leo XIV receives the members of the Curia and the Vatican employees

Pope Leo XIV reiterated on Saturday his call to be a missionary church that stores and waits with open arms to all those who need their presence and love.

The Holy Father made this exhortation during the meeting he held this May 24 with the officials of the Rome Curia and the employees of the Holy See, the Government and the Vicariate of Rome.

“Together, we must look for ways to be a missionary church, a church that tends bridges and encourages dialogue, a church always open to host … with open arms, to all those who need our charity, our presence, our disposition to dialogue and our love,” said León XIV, remembering the greeting he pronounced on May 8 from the balcony of the Basilica of San Pedro.

The Pontiff said that this invitation was directed to the Church in Rome. “And now I repeat them, thinking about the mission of this Church to all the churches and the entire world: to serve communion, unity, charity and truth,” he said.

The Holy Father pointed out that Christ “entrusted this task to Peter and his successors” and, therefore, affirmed that each one is invited to collaborate “doing their daily work with commitment and also with faith, because faith and prayer are like the salt of food; they give flavor.”

“As I think they know, the experience of the mission is part of my life, not only as baptized, as for all Christians, but because as a religious Augustine I was a missionary in Peru, and in the middle of the Peruvian people my pastoral vocation matured. I can never thank the Lord enough for this gift!” He said.

Guard the memory

During the meeting, Pope Leo XIV also thanked the Vatican workers and the members of the curia for the service they provide.

“The potatoes pass, the curia remains. This applies to each particular church, the episcopal curies. And it also applies to the curia of the bishop of Rome. The curia is the institution that preserves and transmits the historical memory of a church, of the ministry of its bishops,” he said.

The Pontiff said that “memory is an essential element of a living organism” not only because it guard the past, but because “the present and guides the future. Without memory, the path is lost, loses its sense of direction.”

Therefore, he said that “working in the Roman curia means contributing to keep the memory of the Apostolic Headquarters alive, in the vital sense that I just mentioned, so that the Pope’s Ministry is carried out in the best way. And, by analogy, this can also be said of the services of the state of the city of the Vatican.”

In that sense, Leo XIV pointed out that memory and missionary dimension are complementary.

“Pope Francis insisted a lot, who, in line with the project drawn up in the apostolic exhortation Gospel joythe Roman curia reformed from the perspective of evangelization with the Apostolic Constitution Preach the Gospel. And he did it following in the footsteps of his predecessors, especially San Pablo VI and San Juan Paul II ”.

Finally, the Holy Father encouraged them to “cooperate in the great cause of unity and love”, especially in everyday situations that include the work environment, “overcoming the inevitable misunderstandings with patience, humility, putting themselves in the place of the other, avoiding prejudices and also with a good dose of humor, as Pope Francis taught us.”

Let’s invoke together the Virgin Mary to bless the Roman curia and the city of the Vatican, and also their families, especially children, the elderly, the sick and those who suffer, ”he said.