Led by their priests, Catholics need to come together and face the truth about what their local church is doing and why, Pope Leo XIV told clergy and laypeople in his diocese.
This process of discernment and “pastoral evaluation does not ask you to do more; on the contrary, it gives you permission to do less – and to do it better,” the pope, who is bishop of Rome, said to applause.
Pope Leo addressed hundreds of diocesan leaders, both clergy and laity, during a diocesan assembly 18 September at the Basilica of St John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome.
The method entails “seeking the truth,” he said, by “recognising what has borne fruit, understanding what did not work and seeking the reasons for this together.”
“Why are we doing it? What evangelical intention motivates us? What real need are we seeking to address? How does this choice align with the Church’s mission?” Then, he said, they must ask, “Why do we achieve these results and not others? Why do some initiatives foster growth while others remain isolated? Why do some people participate while others remain on the sidelines?”
Discerning the reasons for their choices and the reasons for how those choices turned out will allow “us to recognise what should be maintained, valued, corrected, abandoned or initiated,” the pope said.
