Jubilee. Leo XIV to Apostolic Nuncios: “There is no diplomatic corps anywhere in the world as universal as ours”

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Vatican City – In these days when the Holy See is celebrating its own Jubilee, the Pontifical Representatives — the Pope’s ambassadors around the world — are also experiencing their own jubilee moment.

This morning, Pope Leo XIV received the apostolic nuncios in audience in the evocative setting of the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace.

In his address, Pope Leo XIV offered a luminous and realistic image of the Holy See’s diplomatic ministry, renewing with personal and biblically grounded words the profound meaning of the nuncios' mission in the world. The speech, delivered just after the Jubilee of the Holy See, unfolds along three key lines: gratitude for the service rendered, sharing the ecclesial vision that animates the pontificate, and an explicit call to live papal representation as an evangelical witness in the name of Christ.

A Diplomacy “Sub Umbra Petri”

From the very first lines of his speech, Leo XIV emphasized the personal and non-formal character of his words: “not at someone’s suggestion, but because I deeply believe it,” he stated frankly, acknowledging the irreplaceable role of the Pontifical Representatives, especially in the delicate process of selecting candidates for the episcopacy.

The Pope then sketched a deep portrait of Vatican diplomacy, calling it “unique in the world” both for its universality and its unity in Christ. It is not a functional or merely strategic cohesion, but a sacramental and missionary communion: a body that lives its external activity as an emanation of faith and a service to universal fraternity.

Leo XIV gifted the nuncios a ring: “Dear brothers, may you always be comforted by the fact that your service is sub umbra Petri, as you will find engraved on the ring you will receive as my gift. Always feel bound to Peter, protected by Peter, sent by Peter. Only in obedience and in effective communion with the Pope can your ministry be effective in building up the Church, in communion with local bishops.”



Peter’s Apostolic Realism

The spiritual heart of the speech is condensed in the Gospel image chosen by the Pontiff: the healing of the cripple at the gate of the Temple (Acts 3:1–10). In this passage, Leo XIV reveals his full apostolic realism, far from triumphalist visions of the Church. The Church, like Peter, possesses neither gold nor silver, but can offer Christ. And it does so — says the Pope — by looking into the eyes of a wounded, weary humanity, often forced to “beg for existence.”

Here the Pope’s spiritual and pastoral program emerges symbolically: papal representation is not primarily a diplomatic activity in the secular sense, but an apostolic ministry that must generate relationships, build bridges, and give hope to the hopeless. The nuncio is called to be “the gaze of Peter” — that is, to embody the Church’s closeness, mercy, and truth in the political, social, and religious peripheries of the world.

Charity as the Measure of Effectiveness

Pope Leo XIV does not propose a diplomacy of power or influence, but a diplomacy of charity — a presence capable of proclaiming to the world, even in the arenas of international organizations, that “only love is worthy of faith.” This statement, one of the strongest in the address, stands as a criterion of ecclesial authenticity: what is effective is not what conquers, but what loves.

The Pope does not hesitate to remind his Representatives that their ministry is carried out sub umbra Petri, under the shadow of Peter — an expression evoking protection, communion, and obedience. There is no true diplomatic effectiveness — says Leo XIV — without effective communion with the Successor of Peter, without concrete and spiritual fidelity to the Pope.

Between Memory and Prophecy

In conclusion, Leo XIV recalls two emblematic figures: Saint John XXIII and Saint Paul VI, both of whom had significant diplomatic experience. For him, they are examples of holiness in service, models of diplomacy that combines fidelity to the Church with openness to the world.

Finally, the reference to the Holy Door crossed together the previous day takes on symbolic and prophetic value: “may it spur us to be courageous witnesses of Christ,” says the Pope, suggesting that Vatican diplomacy too needs a jubilee — a passage of grace, a renewal in truth and charity.

In this address to the diplomatic corps, Leo XIV both confirms and innovates: he confirms the mission of the representatives as a pastoral extension of Peter’s ministry, but re-launches it with a biblical and missionary perspective, asking them to be signs of Christ more than managers of relationships, witnesses more than ambassadors, builders of communion more than political analysts.

It is a demanding program, reflecting the spiritual depth and ecclesial insight of a Pope who, while taking his first steps, does not hesitate to point toward the direction of the heart — the direction of the Gospel.

T.L.
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