A meeting with the conference of Spanish bishops was the second stop on the third day of Pope Leo's journey to Spain.
During his address to the bishops of Spain, the pope recalled the challenges facing the Catholic Church today and emphasized the need to foster unity, to encourage dialogue, and to support new religious vocations within the Church.
POPE LEO XIV
Seminarians have the right to the best possible formation, and the Church, for its part, has the right to well-trained priests. The criterion for seminaries to be authentic houses of formation is that they ensure an adequate experience of community life.
Pope Leo also highlighted that healing the wounds from the sexual abuse crisis must be a central priority in the work of the bishops, which is only possible through “sincere listening.”
POPE LEO XIV
One of the most painful realities concerns those who have been wounded precisely by those who were meant to care for them, including members of the clergy. Faced with this scourge, the ecclesial community is called to respond with listening, truth, justice, reparation, and an ever more determined commitment to prevention and a culture of care.
He meanwhile reminded the bishops that they needed to recognize the deepest longings of the human heart in a society that has largely forgotten God, yet still desires the divine.
POPE LEO XIV
Many men and women of our time do not simply reject God, often they carry within their hearts a profound thirst for meaning, truth, belonging, and hope, even when they do not know how to name it.
He encouraged them to carry out this task with humility and in communion with one another, so that the message of the Gospel might be realized as the fulfillment of human life.
