Pope Leo XIV says "build the civilization of love" - "in the service of security and peace, the common good of peoples always comes first" FULL TEXT to Military Chaplains


This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV received in audience the members of the Military Ordinariate for Italy on the occasion of the centenary of its foundation (1926-2026) on the theme: "Inter Arma, Caritas." The spiritual assistance of the Military Ordinariate between memory and prophecy.
FULL TEXT speech that the Pope gave to those present during the meeting:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you!
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate, Ministers,
Distinguished Military Authorities,
Reverend Chaplains and Officials of the Military Ordinariate,
dear brothers and sisters,

I extend a warm welcome to all of you! In particular, in greeting the Military Ordinaries from countries other than Italy, I encourage you to continue and deepen the dialogue and collaboration between the various Ordinariates around the world.

Inter Arma Caritas : "to bring Christ into the veins of humanity, renewing and sharing the apostolic mission, looking to the future with serenity, making courageous choices" (see Address to the Bishops of the Italian Episcopal Conference , June 17, 2025). These are the words that are guiding the path of the Centenary of the Military Ordinariate for Italy, an event that preserves memory, relevance, and prophecy.

We live in a society at risk of losing its sense of memory. Our age possesses an extraordinary capacity to transmit information, but an increasingly weakened ability to internalize it. Memory is often "externalized" and available, but not always appropriated and activated. For the Church, however, it is a living conscience: not an accumulation of data, but a constant call to responsibility; not nostalgia, but a root that generates prophecy. For Christians, memory has a unique character: it is a celebration of God who enters history, because the Christian faith is founded on a historical fact, and salvation is not an idea, but the living person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Centenary of the Military Ordinariate for Italy also fits into this logic, as an embodied memory of a concrete history, made up of men and women in uniform who, on their journey within the Church, supported and accompanied by their Pastors, in the bright days of peace and the dramatic days of war, with sacrifice, courage, and dedication contributed to the growth of this society, sometimes at the cost of their lives.

In this context, the teaching of Pope Saint Paul VI remains timely , affirming that history is not a reality to be endured, but a place of grace in which to build the civilization of love . The Centenary you are celebrating wishes to echo this very message, in light of the Lord's commandment: "That you love one another as I have loved you " ( Jn 15:12). Your service is an act of love—toward the country, toward the territories, and above all toward individuals—which translates into concrete closeness, especially in places and circumstances where fragility is greatest.

In you, dear Military Chaplains, may St. Augustine's exhortation to live your ministry as amoris officium , a service of love, therefore resound. Commenting on the dialogue between the Risen Jesus and Peter, Augustine writes: "If you love me, do not think of feeding yourself, but feed my sheep, as mine, not yours; seek in them my glory, not yours; my dominion, not yours [...]. In feeding his sheep, we seek not our own interests, but his" ( In Joannis Evangelium , 123, 5). Many Military Chaplains have embodied these words and have made pastoral charity visible to the point of heroic virtue, sometimes to the point of martyrdom.

The Military Chaplain's work often takes place in silence, in places of peace and conflict, in military bases and operational environments, in chapels and field tents. It is there that care for the Lord's flock is manifested through the testimony of life, the proclamation of the Gospel, the celebration of the Eucharist and the Sacraments, patient listening, and spiritual accompaniment. In this sense, educational settings, academies, schools, training institutes, and places where consciences are shaped, take on particular importance. In a society marked by human mobility and cultural plurality, the Chaplain also places himself at the service of dialogue between peoples, cultures, and religions, bearing witness to a Church that is an instrument of unity. His spiritual work thus contributes to the promotion of the common good and social peace, the fruit—as Pope Francis recalled—of patient craftsmanship, which requires formation, justice, and charity (see Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium , 217-221).

The Second Vatican Council, in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes , states: "Men, as sinners, are and will always be under the threat of war until the coming of Christ; but to the extent that, united in love, they conquer sin, they also conquer violence" (n. 78). The mission of the Christian soldier is set within this horizon. Defending the weak, safeguarding peaceful coexistence, responding in times of disaster, working in international missions to preserve peace and restore order. All this cannot be reduced to a mere profession: it is a vocation, a response to a call that challenges the conscience. The soldier's identity is forged by generosity, a spirit of service, lofty aspirations, and profound sentiments. But these values ​​require a foundation, a gift of Grace capable of nourishing charity to the point of total self-dedication. It is therefore necessary to inspire the codes, norms, and missions of military life with the lifeblood of the Gospel so that, in the service of security and peace, the common good of peoples always comes first.

Forty years ago, with the Apostolic Constitution Spirituali militum curae , Saint John Paul II configured the Military Ordinariates as particular Churches, endowed with their own theological and organizational identity. Addressing the participants in the first Synod of Military Ordinariates (6 May 1999) , he underlined the specificity of this Church which accompanies the military, their families and all those connected to the service of the Armed Forces and the Police. And, in the Jubilee of 2000, the same Holy Pontiff said to the military: "[You] are […] called to defend the weak, to protect the honest, to foster the peaceful coexistence of peoples. Each of you is suited to the role of sentinel, who looks far ahead to avert danger and promote justice and peace everywhere" ( Homily at the Mass for the Jubilee of Military and Police Forces , 19 November 2000, 2).

The Church, in the wake of the magisterium of the Second Vatican Council and of the Apostolic Exhortations Evangelii Nuntiandi and Evangelii Gaudium , proclaims the Gospel of peace, ready to collaborate with all to safeguard this universal good (cf. Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium , 239). In it, the Military Ordinariate for Italy, through spiritual care, aims to be an effective laboratory of God's action on behalf of humanity, a space of formation for the transition from amor sui to amor Dei , the foundation of that Civitas Dei in which the fundamental law is charity (cf. St. Augustine, De civitate Dei , 14, 28) and where peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but the fullness of justice, truth, and love. From this perspective, I encourage you to continue to implement the projects you have in mind: the Pastoral Centre , the training activities for Chaplains and Chaplain Students, and, in particular, the Centre for Advanced Studies in Spiritual Assistance , aimed at promoting interdisciplinary reflection on the challenges of today's world, on the inculturation of faith, and on the relationship between the Gospel, culture, science, and new technologies.

Dearest ones, thank you for all you do! I invoke upon all of you, your families, and your service the intercession of Mary, Queen of Peace, and of your patron saints, and I bless you from my heart. Thank you.
Source: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2026/03/07/0180/00342.html


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