Pope Leo XIV says “Let us strive to be authentic witnesses of the love of Christ..." FULL TEXT + Video at Audience

Pope LEO XIV at the GENERAL AUDIENCE
in the Vatican St Peter's Square
Wednesday, 4 March 2026Catechesis. The Documents of Vatican Council II. II. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium. 2. The Church, a Visible and Spiritual Reality
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and wecome!

Today, we will continue our exploration of the Conciliar Constitution Lumen gentium, a dogmatic Constitution on the Church.

In the first chapter, which is primarily intended to answer the question of what the Church is, she is described as a “complex reality” (no. 8). Now we ask ourselves: what does this complexity consist of? Some might answer that the Church is complex in that she is ‘complicated’ and therefore difficult to explain; others might think that her complexity derives from the fact that she is an institution steeped in two thousand years of history, with characteristics that differ from any other social or religious group. In Latin, however, the word ‘complex’ indicates rather the orderly union of different aspects or dimensions within the same reality.

For this reason, Lumen gentium can affirm that the Church is a well-organized body, in which the human and divine dimensions coexist without separation and without confusion.

The first dimension is immediately perceptible, in that the Church is a community of men and women who share the joy and struggle of being Christians, with their strengths and weaknesses, proclaiming the Gospel and becoming a sign of the presence of Christ who accompanies us on our journey through life. Yet this aspect – which is also evident in its institutional organization – is not sufficient to describe the true nature of the Church, because it also has a divine dimension. The latter does not consist in an ideal perfection or spiritual superiority of its members, but in the fact that the Church is generated by God’s plan for humanity, realized in Christ.

Therefore, the Church is at the same time an earthly community and the mystical body of Christ, a visible assembly and a spiritual mystery, a reality present in history and a people journeying towards heaven (LG, 8; CCC, 771).

The human and divine dimensions integrate harmoniously, without one overshadowing the other; thus, the Church lives in this paradox. She is a reality that is both human and divine, which welcomes the sinful man and leads him to God.

To illuminate this ecclesial condition, Lumen gentium refers to the life of Christ. In fact, those who met Jesus along the roads of Palestine experienced his humanity, his eyes, his hands, the sound of his voice. Those who decided to follow him were moved precisely by the experience of his welcoming gaze, the touch of his blessing hands, his words of liberation and healing. At the same time, however, by following that Man, the disciples opened themselves to an encounter with God. Indeed, Christ’s flesh, his face, his gestures and his words visibly manifest the invisible God.

In the light of the reality of Jesus, we can now return to the Church: when we look at her closely, we discover a human dimension made up of real people, who sometimes manifest the beauty of the Gospel and other times struggle and make mistakes like everyone else. However, it is precisely through her members and her limited earthly aspects that Christ’s presence and his saving action are manifested. As Benedict XVI said, there is no opposition between the Gospel and the institution; on the contrary, the structures of the Church serve precisely for the “realization and concretization of the Gospel in our time” (Address to Swiss Bishops, 9 November 2006). An ideal and pure Church, separated from the earth, does not exist; only the one Church of Christ, embodied in history.

This is what constitutes the holiness of the Church: the fact that Christ dwells in her and continues to give himself through the smallness and fragility of her members. Contemplating this perennial miracle that takes place in her, we understand ‘God's method’: He makes himself visible through the weakness of creatures, continuing to manifest himself and to act. For this reason, Pope Francis, in Evangelii gaudium, exhorts us all to learn “to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other (cf. Ex 3:5)” (no. 169). This enables us still today to build up the Church: not only by organizing its visible forms, but by building that spiritual edifice which is the body of Christ, through communion and charity among ourselves.

Indeed, charity constantly generates the presence of the Risen One. “If only we could all just let our thoughts dwell on the one thing, charity! It’s the only thing, you see, which both surpasses all things, and without which all things worth nothing, and which draws all things to itself, wherever it may be” (Sermon 354, 6, 6).

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Special greetings:

I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, India, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States of America. With prayerful good wishes that this Lent will be a time of grace and spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of you joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

I extend my cordial greeting to the French-speaking people, especially the pilgrims from the parishes and schools of France. Brothers and sisters, faithful to our baptismal commitment, let us strive to build the Church every day, organizing not only its visible forms, but also strengthening unity among us through communion, charity, and mutual forgiveness. God bless you !


I am happy to welcome German -speaking pilgrims. Let us continue our Lenten journey in a spirit of penance and conversion, imploring God's mercy and peace for ourselves and for the whole world .

I cordially greet the pilgrims of the Spanish language. In this time of Heart, let us turn to the Lord who helps us to continue building the Church in the ordinary life of our life, expressed in a particular way through prayer, help and charity. May God bless them. Much thanks.

I extend my cordial greeting to the Chinese-speaking people. Dear brothers and sisters, open your hearts to the good and merciful Lord, so that his grace may renew you and you may be his joyful witnesses. I bless you wholeheartedly .

 A warm greeting to the Portuguese-speaking faithful, especially the youth group in Meixomil], Portugal! Made up of men and women, the Church is divine: even with our smallness and limitations, we can always be instruments in God's hands for the building of His Church. God bless you! ]


I greet the Arabic-speaking faithful. The Church is called to be a missionary among all peoples to bring the good news that Jesus Christ is our peace. May the Lord bless you all and always protect you from all evil !

I cordially greet the Poles. Today in the liturgy we remember Holy Prince Casimir, the celebrated patron saint of Poland and Lithuania, as well as of numerous dioceses and parishes. Every day he prayed with the words: Omni die dic Mariae, teaching filial love towards Mary, Mother and Queen. May his intercession help us to discover that in the Holy Virgin we admire the true dignity of every woman and her vocation. I bless you all !

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I extend a cordial welcome to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. In particular, I greet two religious institutes celebrating significant foundation anniversaries: the Franciscan Sisters of the Gospel and the Franciscan Volunteer Missionary Sisters of the Poor. I wish their respective communities every success. I also greet the members of the Magnificat Community; the National Consortium of Nurses' Associations; and the faithful of the various parishes, especially those of Isola Capo Rizzuto, Siliqua, and Vallermosa. I invoke peace and Christian prosperity upon all.

Finally, my thoughts turn to the sick, newlyweds, and young people. Lent exhorts us to recognize Christ as humanity's supreme hope. I invite you, dear young people, to be courageous witnesses of the Gospel, to have a positive impact in the various spheres of life. To you, dear sick people, I commend the virtue of patience, so that your suffering, united with that of Christ, may be a pleasing offering to the Father. And I encourage you, dear newlyweds, to discover the value of prayer in the "domestic church" you have formed. My blessing to all!

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Summary of the Holy Father's words:

Dear brothers and sisters, in our continuing catechesis on the Second Vatican Council, today we consider the mystery of the human and divine dimensions of the Church as presented by the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium. Just as Jesus’ humanity was immediately apparent to those who walked by his side, so too the human dimension of the Church is easy to perceive: it is a community of men and women who, with their gifts and their flaws, seek to proclaim the Gospel within a visible structure. Those who followed Jesus more closely, however, recognized that his humanity — his loving gaze, his merciful gestures and his powerful word — manifested his divinity, which led them to salvation. In a similar way, through the visible and human dimension of the Church, the spirit of Christ and his saving action are present and active in the world. Let us strive to be authentic witnesses of the love of Christ so that all can recognize in us and among us the charity that characterizes true Christians and builds up the Church.