Pope Leo XIV On the Solemnity of St. Joseph Highlights How as a Guardian He was "attentive to others, respecting their choices and caring for them"

On March 19, 2026, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Patron Saint of families, fathers, the universal Church, and many other places, and things, Pope Leo XIV released a message on his X account. Pope Leo XIV on his @Pontifex account wrote: "#SaintJoseph cared for the family that the Lord entrusted to him. Guardianship means being attentive to others, respecting their choices, and caring for them. St. Joseph shows us that presence and guardianship are inseparable dimensions: we can only care for others by being present, and we are only present when we assume responsibility for the other."

This is a quotation from a meeting on March 12, 2026, to participants in the “Cathedra of Hospitality,” a cultural and educational event. Here is a fuller context of the quote which looks at Saint Joseph's role in the Holy Family (continues below the video):

Looking to the Holy Family of Nazareth – whose model inspires Fraterna Domus – every welcoming community can rediscover its calling and learn to orient itself on the path of service. The Gospel episode of Mary and Joseph losing Jesus and, distressed, finding him after three days in the Temple (cf. Lk 2:39-52) teaches us that the presence of the other is not automatic, but the result of constant searching. It has happened to each of us to lose someone or something we were very attached to. At that moment, we realized how precious that presence was.

This also happens in the life of faith: we take for granted the presence of Jesus in our existence, until unexpectedly it seems that He is no longer where we left Him. We feel a sense of loss. In reality, it is not He who is lost, but we who have strayed. When this happens, we are called to seek him with confidence, with the courage to travel unexplored paths, looking at the world with new eyes, filled with hope. In this way, we will stop looking for a God who suits us and instead encounter Him where He dwells. Seeking Jesus, therefore, means moving from the security of our convictions to the responsibility of encounter, learning to see and welcome the presence of God who is always “beyond”.

This is exactly what Saint Joseph did in caring for the family entrusted to him by the Lord. In him we recognize that welcoming is not only presence but also guardianship. Guardianship means being attentive to others, respecting their choices and caring for them. This attitude belongs first and foremost to God, whom the Bible shows as the guardian of his people. We recall the psalm that says: “He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand” (Psalm 121: 4-5). From this perspective, we understand that the human family is also called to preserve what has been entrusted to it: relationships, creation, and the life of our brothers and sisters, especially those who suffer and are most fragile. In this way, Joseph shows us that presence and guardianship are inseparable dimensions: it is not possible to guard without being present, and one is not present without assuming responsibility for the other.

These two words represent two lamps on your journey towards a welcome that can open paths to holiness, in a perspective that is never self-referential, but always relational and fraternal, as the Encyclical Fratelli tutti reminds us when it states: “Only a social and political culture that readily and gratuitously welcomes others will have a future” (no. 141) for the new generations.

Dear friends, thank you for your silent and discreet commitment. I encourage you to be educators of welcome. Cultivate the charism of welcome by listening to the Holy Spirit, whose fruit, as Saint Paul tells us, “is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22). In this way, you will be able to continue to create environments capable of promoting goodness and fraternity in the Christian community and in society. May Mary Most Holy and Saint Joseph watch over you and intercede for you. I bless you from my heart. Thank you.

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