Pope Leo XIV Warns Leaders "There is no separation in the personality of a public figure: there is not on one side the politician, on the other the Christian"
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ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
TO A DELEGATION OF ELECTED OFFICIALS
AND CIVIL INDIVIDUALS FROM VAL DE MARNE
(DIOCESE OF CRÉTEIL)
Consistory Hall
Thursday, August 28, 2025
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Peace be with you!
I'm sure many of you speak English, no? I am going to attempt to speak French counting on your benevolence!
I cordially greet His Excellency Monsignor Dominique Blanchet, and I welcome all of you, elected officials and civil figures of the Diocese of Créteil, on pilgrimage to Rome.
I am happy to welcome you in your journey of faith: you will return to your daily commitments strengthened in hope, better established to work towards the construction of a more just, more human, more fraternal world, which can be nothing other than a world more imbued with the Gospel. Faced with the excesses of all kinds that our Western societies are experiencing, we cannot do better, as Christians, than to turn to Christ and ask for his help in the exercise of our responsibilities.
This is why your approach, more than just a personal enrichment, is of great importance and great utility for the men and women you serve. And it is all the more praiseworthy because it is not easy in France, for an elected official, due to a secularism that is sometimes misunderstood, to act and decide in accordance with his or her faith in the exercise of public responsibilities.
The salvation that Jesus obtained through his death and resurrection encompasses all dimensions of human life, such as culture, the economy and work, family and marriage, respect for human dignity and life, health, communication, education, and politics. Christianity cannot be reduced to mere private devotion, because it implies a way of living in society imbued with love for God and for one's neighbor, who, in Christ, is no longer an enemy but a brother.
Your region, the place of your commitments, is faced with major social issues such as violence in certain neighborhoods, insecurity, precariousness, drug networks, unemployment, the disappearance of conviviality… To face these challenges, the Christian leader is strong in the virtue of Charity which has inhabited him since his baptism. This is a gift from God, a “force capable of creating new ways to confront the problems of today’s world and of profoundly renewing from within structures, social organizations, and legal norms. In this perspective, charity becomes social and political charity : it makes us love the common good and leads us to effectively seek the good of all” ( Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church , n. 207 ). This is why the Christian leader is better prepared to face the challenges of the present world, to the extent, of course, that he lives and bears witness to his active faith in it, to his personal relationship with Christ who enlightens him and gives him this strength. Jesus affirmed it vigorously: "Apart from me you can do nothing!" ( Jn 15:5); we should therefore not be surprised that the promotion of "values", however evangelical they may be, but "emptied" of Christ who is their author, are powerless to change the world.
So, Monsignor Blanchet asked me for advice to give you. The first – and only – advice I will give you is to unite yourselves more and more to Jesus, to live by it and to bear witness to it. There is no separation in the personality of a public figure: there is not on one side the politician, on the other the Christian. But there is the politician who, under the gaze of God and his conscience, lives his commitments and responsibilities in a Christian way!
You are therefore called to strengthen yourselves in faith, to study the doctrine—especially the social doctrine—that Jesus taught the world, and to put it into practice in the exercise of your duties and in the drafting of laws. Its foundations are fundamentally in accord with human nature, the natural law that all can recognize, even non-Christians, even non-believers. You must therefore not be afraid to propose and defend it with conviction: it is a doctrine of salvation that aims at the good of every human being, the building of peaceful, harmonious, prosperous and reconciled societies.
I am well aware that the openly Christian commitment of a public official is not easy, particularly in certain Western societies where Christ and his Church are marginalized, often ignored, sometimes ridiculed. Nor am I unaware of the pressures, party orders, and “ideological colonizations”—to borrow a felicitous expression from Pope Francis —to which politicians are subjected. They need courage: the courage to sometimes say “no, I cannot!” when the truth is at stake. Here again, only union with Jesus—Jesus crucified!—will give you the courage to suffer for his name. He said to his disciples: “In the world you will suffer, but take courage! I have overcome the world” ( Jn 16:33).
Dear friends, I thank you for your visit and I assure you of my most sincere encouragement for the continuation of your activities in the service of your compatriots. Keep the hope of a better world; keep the certainty that united with Christ, your efforts will bear fruit and obtain their reward. I entrust you, as well as your country, to the protection of Our Lady of the Assumption, and I wholeheartedly impart to you the Apostolic Blessing.
Source: Vatican .va
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