Leo XIV to the clergy of Rome: "Thank you for your life given in service." Unity, exemplary conduct, and prophecy: the Pope's threefold call to his priests.

Vatican City – This morning, Pope Leo XIV met with all the priests serving in the Diocese of Rome, the local Church of which he has been Bishop since his election just over a month ago. A gesture that speaks louder than many words, especially to a clergy that in recent years has been marked by tensions, disappointments, and marginalisation.

From the earliest hours after his election, Leo XIV has shown genuine concern for his diocese. He met with the Cardinal Vicar, then the Vicegerent, and within a few days the entire Episcopal Council. A swift and symbolic action that underscores his desire to mend a torn ecclesial fabric, restoring dignity and attentive listening to a wounded presbyterate. The administrative and pastoral disaster caused by the apostolic constitution In Ecclesiarum Communione, promulgated by Pope Francis, is now thoroughly documented. Silere non possum has for years denounced, with evidence and testimony, the harmful effects of the management of the Vicariate: an opaque and authoritarian system, where personal friendships held more weight than transparency and ecclesial communion. Renato Tarantelli– a shadowy figure who gained access to Santa Marta thanks to his personal ties with Fabio Salerno and Cristiano Antonietti – operated as a hidden director, having the Pope sign documents he did not fully understand. Then came Baldassare Reina, from Agrigento, already known for controversial issues in the seminary, who submitted to the dictates of the “prince of the Forum”, knowing full well that otherwise his position would be at risk.

In a matter of months, entire departments of the Vicariate were dismantled, with auxiliary bishops either moved or silenced in the name of a “renewal” that had all the hallmarks of a purge: from Daniele Libanori to Paolo Ricciardi, all were removed with hasty measures. The only “survivor” of the institutional earthquake was Benoni Ambarus, protected by Pope Francis’s personal esteem for his work with the poor.

Now, with Leo XIV, a new chapter begins. The Pope was already familiar with this reality during his time at the helm of the Dicastery for Bishops. On the one hand, he read widely, consulted published documents; on the other, he would find the Pope’s nominations on his desk. Today he has chosen to face the situation head-on, meeting all the priests—not only the incardinated ones, but also those from other countries who reside in Rome for study or service. A choice that acknowledges the specificity and complexity of the Roman clergy, and reflects a universal outlook that is not remote or detached. “I wished to meet you to get to know you personally and to begin walking with you. I thank you for your lives given in service of the Kingdom, for your daily labours, for your generosity in your ministry, for all you live in silence, sometimes accompanied by suffering or misunderstanding. You exercise different roles but are all precious in God’s eyes and in the realisation of His plan,” the Pontiff told his priests.

During the meeting, Leo XIV opened with a symbolic gesture: an applause for all the priests and deacons of Rome, a simple yet direct way to say “I’m here, I see you, I appreciate you.” He then delivered a profound, fatherly speech, rich with calls to communion, coherence of life, and the prophetic capacity of the Church in these times. He offered his priests three key words: unity, exemplariness, and prophecy.

Unity and Communion

“The priest is called to be a man of communion,” he said, recalling the words of Jesus’s priestly prayer. He acknowledged that today communion is threatened by individualism, isolation, misunderstandings, and wounds experienced. He spoke of the need to return to a deep, spiritual fraternity, grounded in personal encounter with Christ, generating sincere and stable relationships founded on friendship and mutual esteem.

Exemplariness

The Pope urged his priests to be credible and exemplary, aware of their human limitations but also of the great gracethey have received. “A servant is called to be faithful,” he said. He warned against the danger of moral levelling, in a “city” that offers countless temptations. Leo XIV encouraged a return to the love of the first calling, to safeguard the fervour of vocation, and to live humility as the true mark of Gospel authenticity.

Prophecy in the Present

Finally, the Pope urged the priests not to avert their gaze from the challenges of the world, but rather to embrace them. He spoke of the growing poverty in Rome, of the housing emergency, and the social distress affecting many. He cited Don Mazzolari, Don Milani, and Don Di Liegro as models of prophetic priests, able to unite history and the Gospel, denunciation and proclamation. Leo XIV asked his priests not to flee from difficulties, but to read them as opportunities to bear witness to Christ in today’s world.

In closing, the Pope renewed his affectionate closeness to the priests and entrusted to them the heartfelt words of St Augustine: “Love this Church, remain in this Church, be this Church.” A phrase that, when read between the lines, speaks volumes about the times we are living in: times in which loving and remaining in the Church is no longer a given, especially when one feels alone, betrayed, or manipulated. But Leo XIV has not come to offer platitudes. He has come to rebuild, to purify, to serve. And today, before a weary clergy, he laid the first stone of a new beginning.

d.R.M.
Silere non possum