Vatican City - The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Rome’s patron saints, brought Pope Leo XIV back to the heart of the Church of Rome’s identity: a faith rooted in the witness and blood of the Apostles, but also the responsibility to turn that memory into concrete service to the world. Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace before the Angelus, the Pope described Rome’s bond with the other Churches as a foundational communion “of faith and charity”. Peter and Paul, he said, are “almost the seal of the New Testament”: their martyrdom in the capital of the Empire showed the Gospel’s power to transform history, offering “a new knowledge of God and of the infinite dignity of every human being”.
The Pope set out a very clear principle, one which many people, including within the Church, still struggle to grasp: Christian strength is not domination. In taking root in Rome, the Gospel introduced a different understanding of power, not as self-assertion but as “service to life”. Leo XIV linked this perspective to the mission entrusted to the Apostles and, through them, to the whole Church. “God trusts us, who are sinners forgiven by Him, us who are not perfect,” the Pope said. Human frailty, he explained, can reveal a grace capable of turning evil into good. This is not rhetoric about ecclesial perfection, but an awareness that Christian credibility rests on real people, marked by limitations, contradictions and the need for conversion.
Peter and Paul: different, but not rivals
The central part of the reflection concerned the relationship between the two Apostles. Peter and Paul, Leo XIV recalled, could hardly have been more different in their origins, formation and character. Those differences remained clear even after their calling, and the Lord neither erased them nor forced them into uniformity. Prevost does not regard that diversity as a problem, either then or now. The Gospel, the Pope observed, is proclaimed by each person in his own voice. Even the disagreements between the Apostles, recorded in Scripture, are not concealed but told as good news. Peter and Paul were not rivals: they became the sign of the many differences which the Holy Spirit can reconcile in unity.
The appeal speaks directly to the Church today. Communion is not conformity, nor can diversity be used as a pretext for creating factions, power groups or permanent divisions. The patron saints of Rome, Leo XIV said, “experienced the struggle of communion; they came to know it, served it and proclaimed it as the sacrament of divine life”. Hence his invitation to the universal Church: to recognise catholicity as a service that brings people and peoples together, to avoid everything that erodes communion, and to continue along the ecumenical path through dialogue that is “attentive and frank with everyone”.
St Peter’s Pence and the Christian face of Rome
After the Angelus, Leo XIV recalled the Day of St Peter’s Pence, thanking those who support the ministry of the Successor of the Apostle Peter. The passage inevitably raises the question of responsibility in the use of offerings intended for the Holy See: funds donated by the faithful so that the Pope may carry out his ministry, support works of charity and proclaim the Gospel.
The greeting to L’Osservatore di strada
Among the greetings drafted by the Prefecture of the Papal Household for the Pope was one addressed to the homeless people present in St Peter’s Square to distribute L’Osservatore di strada, a supplement to L’Osservatore Romano.
Naturally, the request came from Andrea Monda himself. A man who does not usually go to the office even on the days when he is expected to be there was hardly likely to spend a Sunday in St Peter’s Square beneath the scorching Roman sun of recent days. But having secured confirmation from the Prefecture that the short passage had been inserted into the text prepared for the Pope, Monda could not miss the occasion. He had to be there, he had to be seen, he had to make his presence visible at the very moment Leo XIV spoke about the costly paper. And so there he was in St Peter’s Square, beside a banner that had cost hundreds of euros, waving his arms about in his embarrassing braces to greet the Pope, who, puzzled because he was reading a text whose contents he did not know, was speaking about that initiative.
Leo XIV read: “I greet the homeless people who are in St Peter’s Square today to distribute L’Osservatore di strada, a supplement to L’Osservatore Romano. Thank you and best wishes to those who carry this newspaper forward!”
The wording read by the Pope during the greetings nevertheless leaves a question unanswered. It is not a question about the value of the people involved in the project, nor about the need to offer concrete paths towards dignity and inclusion to those living on the streets. The issue concerns the way in which certain initiatives are put before the Pope and, above all, financed and managed within the Holy See’s communications apparatus.
In recent weeks, Silere non possum has documented the spending, print runs and distribution arrangements surrounding publications issued by the Dicastery for Communication and L’Osservatore Romano. Its investigation into the special edition produced for the Jubilee reconstructed decisions taken without an adequate distribution plan, unsold copies, printing costs and outsourced work, as well as questions left unanswered about the actual use of resources. L’Osservatore di strada is also distributed free of charge in St Peter’s Square. Yet, despite being free, public interest is non-existent: copies go unclaimed and the newspaper generates no spontaneous demand among pilgrims and tourists. That is why they put those four words in the Pope’s mouth: in the hope that people will pick it up.
This makes it even more necessary to know precisely the costs, print runs, printing arrangements, distribution methods and actual results of the initiative. This is not an argument against involving homeless people or developing social projects. On the contrary, precisely because the dignity of the most vulnerable is invoked, it is necessary to ensure that every euro spent produces a real and verifiable benefit, without turning poverty into a stage prop or a communications tool.
But the political and ecclesial issue lies elsewhere. The Pope is being made to read publicly a greeting in support of an editorial product born out of Andrea Monda’s obsession, yet one for which there has never been any public assessment of costs, distribution effectiveness or actual public response. The Pope’s words are therefore being used to give automatic legitimacy to decisions, spending and projects that should instead be subject to transparency, scrutiny and accountability. The money people donate to the Pope is not small change for some former RE teacher to spend on his failed projects. This is where the words spoken shortly beforehand by Leo XIV take on even greater weight. The Church, the Pope recalled, is called not to domination but to service. The Holy See’s communications should be governed by the same principle: to serve the Gospel, serve the Pope and serve the faithful. Not to build small fortresses, self-referential initiatives or costly image operations while the Holy See’s coffers continue to languish.
The communion of which the Pope spoke at the Angelus cannot be invoked as a way of avoiding questions. For communion to be authentic, it requires truth, accountability and the courage to establish whether what is done in the name of the Church truly corresponds to her mission.
fr.A.T.
Silere non possum