Vatican City - On the occasion of Easter, Pope Leo XIV sent a letter to all the members of the College of Cardinals. The text, signed by the Pontiff before his departure for Algeria, comes after Leo XIV had already met the cardinals on several occasions, both individually and collectively. A gesture that confirms a style of governance rooted in direct dialogue, mutual trust and an authentically lived shared responsibility.
Easter greetings and thanks for the Consistory
The letter opens with a fraternal greeting and Easter good wishes, invoking “the peace of the risen Lord” upon a world the Pope describes as “suffering”. Leo XIV then takes the opportunity to thank the cardinals for their participation in last January’s Consistory, expressing particular appreciation for the quality of the work carried out in the groups and for the freedom of the interventions made during the assembly. The contributions gathered on that occasion are described as “a precious resource”, which the Pope intends to continue safeguarding and allowing to mature through ecclesial discernment.
Evangelii gaudium as the compass of the pontificate
At the heart of the letter is an extended reflection on what emerged in the Consistory working groups regarding Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium, with particular reference to mission and the transmission of the faith. Leo XIV reaffirms its central importance, describing it as a document that does not simply introduce new content, but rather “refocuses everything on the kerygma as the heart of Christian and ecclesial identity”. The Pope describes it as a true “breath of fresh air”, capable of setting in motion processes of pastoral and missionary conversion rather than producing immediate structural reforms.
A mission on three levels
Taking up the reflections of the Consistory, Leo XIV sets out the missionary challenge on three distinct levels.
At the personal level, every baptised person is called to renew their encounter with Christ, moving from a faith that has simply been received to one that is “truly lived and experienced”, with particular attention to the quality of spiritual life, to prayer, and to the coherence between faith and life.
At the community level, the Pope calls for a shift from a pastoral model of preservation to a missionary pastoral approach, in which communities become “living agents of proclamation”: welcoming, capable of using accessible language, attentive to the quality of relationships, and able to offer spaces for listening, accompaniment and healing.
At the diocesan level, the Pontiff recalls the responsibility of Pastors to support missionary boldness with resolve, ensuring that it is not “weighed down or stifled by organisational excesses”.
A mission that spreads through attraction, not conquest
Leo XIV sets out a vision of mission that he describes as “profoundly unified”: Christ-centred and kerygmatic, born of a transforming encounter with Christ and one that “spreads through attraction rather than conquest”. It is an integral mission, holding together explicit proclamation, witness, commitment and dialogue, without yielding either to the temptation of proselytism or to a logic of mere institutional preservation. Even in the awareness of being a minority reality, the Church - the Pope writes - is called to live “without complexes, as a small flock bearing hope for all”, remembering that the aim of mission is not its own survival, but “the communication of the love with which God loves the world”.
Practical directions
The letter closes with several concrete indications. Leo XIV first asks for Evangelii gaudium to be relaunched through an honest assessment of “what, after all these years, has truly been received and what instead remains unfamiliar and unimplemented”. Among the priorities identified are the reform of the processes of Christian initiation, the renewed appreciation of apostolic and pastoral visits as kerygmatic opportunities, and a reconsideration of the effectiveness of ecclesial communication — including at the level of the Holy See — from a more explicitly missionary perspective. In closing, the Pope announces that a more detailed communication will follow in view of the next Consistory, scheduled for 26 and 27 June. Yesterday, Silere non possum exclusively revealed the letter sent by the Dean of the College of Cardinals to the cardinals regarding the programme of the extraordinary Consistory.
fr.G.B.
Silere non possum