Pope Leo XIV Tells Nuns that Vocations are Born "from prayer, familiarity with the Gospel, silence, the ability to welcome one another with our imperfections, and a sense of belonging..." FULL TEXT

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
TO THE ASSEMBLY OF THE FEDERATION
OF CAPUCHIN POOR CLARE NUNS OF ITALYin the Vatican's Consistory Hall on Monday, September 21, 2026
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you! And you can also say "peace and goodness"!

Dear sisters and brothers, good morning and welcome everyone!
I'm very pleased to meet you and share this moment of reflection with you. We'll take inspiration from today's liturgy, the Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist.

In the Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul exhorts us: "Let yourselves live in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience [...] for you have been called to the one hope of your calling" ( Eph 4:1-2.4).

It is an invitation to fidelity, to which your Federation responds according to the charism of Saint Clare and Saint Francis, in contemplative prayer, in poverty, and in total adherence to the Gospel. To this end, the work of reworking and updating the Constitutions that you have accomplished is praiseworthy, in which the contributions of many have been synthesised. They reaffirm that "the first and principal task of all religious is the contemplation of divine realities and constant union with God in prayer" ( Constitutions, 60; cf. CIC , can. 663). As Saint Clare wrote to Saint Agnes of Bohemia : "Place your mind in the mirror of eternity, place your soul in the splendor of glory, place your heart in the figure of the divine substance, and transform yourself completely, through contemplation, into the image of his divinity" ( Third Letter to Blessed Agnes of Bohemia , 12-13; FF 2888).

And it is precisely with the "mind in the mirror of eternity" that I invite you to look both at the present time, with its dramas and uncertainties, and at the challenges of your " little world , " rich in its past and called to look to the future with hope. The reduced number of vocations, in particular, could push some to make choices of closure or retreat. But I want to repeat to you what I said about the future of dioceses and seminaries in Italy. Let us try to change perspective in considering this reality. Its critical issues, in fact, can help us discover or rediscover unexpected potential, "not so much with regard to numerical strength but to the quality of the proposal" ( Address to pilgrims from the Tuscan dioceses , 11 October 2025). Today's Gospel reminds us of this, which says: "It is not the well who need a doctor, but the sick" ( Mt 9:12). The numerical reduction of communities—and the resulting fear of losing their autonomy—should not disturb or destroy hope, but rather push us to renew our lives and to commit ourselves even more to the spiritual accompaniment of those who knock at the doors of monasteries, to fostering joyful and vibrant communities where we can experience intimacy with God, kindness, communion, and authentic relationships. Vocations are not born from the application of organizational strategies, nor from carefully planned campaigns, but from prayer, familiarity with the Gospel, silence, the ability to welcome one another with our imperfections, and a sense of belonging to a whole that creates unity.”  (cf. Gal 6:2) And to do so, the Lord does not ask us to be flawless, but to allow ourselves to be shaped by his grace, humbly, day by day.

This gives us the opportunity to discuss another important topic: formation, both initial and ongoing. Form yourselves and others to a cloistered life lived in a spirit of profound communion with one another and with the Church; to a silence that, in a society dominated by haste and noise, awakens the need for times and spaces in which to pause, discern, without fear of missing the "fleeting moment."

Moreover, this is also the specific missionary nature of the cloistered vocation. Psalm 18, also taken from today's Liturgy, recites: "Without speech, without words, without their voice being heard, their message goes out throughout the earth, and their message to the ends of the earth" (vv. 4-5). Formed in the school of the Gospel, the Lord calls you to be his witnesses in silence and contemplation, placing you in history as a living and prophetic memorial of the Good News.

As Sisters of Saint Clare, you have a special message to proclaim, which comes first and foremost through the observance of the Rule and your Constitutions . It is part of your being and your mission to live the Gospel, leaving behind all that is worldly, totally and constantly turned towards the first and only Love of your life. This implies sobriety, detachment from things, self-surrender in obedience, transparency, in a simple but also radical and demanding life, a precious sign of fidelity, especially in a globalized and restless world, in which the taste and ability to "put down roots" seem to have been lost (cf. Francis , Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei quærere , 35).

For this reason, dearest sisters, I would like to conclude by returning to a question from your Federal Assistant: "Can cloistered nuns offer answers to the questions of meaning facing humanity today?" To answer, he suggested four means that I believe are important: mutual listening ; koinonia, as a communion of purpose, to avoid isolation; diakonia, to serve and work together; martyria, to bear witness to the Gospel. I leave them to you as safe paths for your journey.

Dear Sisters, I thank you for what you do and for what you are: “torches, sentinels for the Church and for the world” (Francis, Message to Contemplatives , 21 November 2018), signs of the presence of the kingdom of God on earth.

I am happy to have met you and, invoking the intercession of Mary, of Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi and of Blessed Maria Lorenza Longo , I heartily impart to you the Apostolic Blessing.