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This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience a delegation from the “Illinois Municipal League”, to whom he addressed the following greeting:

 

Greeting of the Holy Father

Good morning everyone, and welcome! Let us begin, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Peace be with you!

Dear brothers and sisters, welcome to the Vatican and to Rome.

I am pleased to meet all of you who represent the Illinois Municipal League. You are visiting the Vatican during  Holy Week , when Catholics throughout the world, along with many other Christians, commemorate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, whose loving obedience to the Father even unto death has obtained the gift of redemption for all humanity (cf.  Phil  2:8).  Through the Paschal Mystery, the Lord shows us that even the most difficult and challenging circumstances can be transformed from within by the power of love. Perhaps suffering cannot always be avoided or removed, but redemptive meaning can be found that not only restores lost dignity, but opens the door to new life.  Indeed, Jesus’ resurrection is the ultimate source of hope for all who believe in Christ and await the promise of eternal life. 

The victory of the Risen Lord over death also reveals that the heart of authentic authority is service, for Jesus came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” ( Mt  20:28). His service and obedience to the will of the Father have led to sure hope and lasting peace for all humanity. In this way, the victory born of Christ’s gift-of-self stands as both a beacon and a challenge for all of us today. As men and women charged with the role of governance, you too are called to discover and to exemplify the gift of service.  In a particular way, you are called to be attentive to the needs of the weakest and the most vulnerable in order to assist them towards an integral human development. As Venerable Giorgio La Pira, who was a former mayor of the Italian city of Florence, once noted, mayors are called to reduce and alleviate suffering and difficulties among their citizens in every way possible, “with all of the measures that love suggests and the law provides” ( Writings , VI, p. 83). 

In order to do this, you must first strive to know people’s aspirations as well as their challenges. The dignity of each individual must be recognized and upheld, for your municipalities are not anonymous places, but rather have faces and histories that are to be cherished as precious treasures (cf.  Address to Members of the National Association of Italian Municipalities , 29 December 2025). While there are many tasks that vie for your attention each day, I would encourage you to continue listening to the poor, to immigrants, to the least among you, seeking to accompany them in your work to promote the common good to the benefit of all. In this way, each of your municipalities may be places for genuine encounter among all citizens, providing opportunities for every individual to flourish.

Dear friends, I assure you of my prayers and express gratitude for the devoted service that you offer on a daily basis to those you govern.  May you continue this important work each day with joy, with love, and with zeal, always remembering that those in authority are also God’s servants (cf.  Rom  13:6).  In this sense, imitating Christ’s docility to the will of the Father will further open to you the true dynamism of service and allow you to bring the peace bestowed upon us by the Risen Christ to your constituents.

I entrust you and your loved ones to the intercession of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, who ministered to the most vulnerable with great love and devotion for many years in Chicago, and I gladly bless each one of you and all your loved ones from the heart.

Thank you very much.

This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience three Benedictine Monastic Communities: the Monastic Community of the Abbey of Santa Scolastica of Subiaco. the Monastic Community of the Abbey of Santa Maria del Monte of Cesena, and the Benedictine Nuns of the Abbey of Santa Scolastica of Bari.

The following is the address delivered by the Pope to those present:

 

Address of the Holy Father

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you!

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

I am glad of this meeting, which also gives us the opportunity to reflect together on the value of the Benedictine charism in your lives, in the life of the Church and in the world.

In identifying “the instruments of good works”, Saint Benedict, in Chapter IV of the Rule , urges us to “keep guard over one’s every act” (48). You, contemplative Benedictine nuns, Benedictine monks, know well how much prayer and prayerful reading of the Word of God, especially in the Lectio divina , assist in this vigilance, enabling those who practise them to understand the truth about themselves, in the recognition of their own weaknesses and sins and in the celebration of the Lord’s graces and blessings. This is how the desire to belong to Him is renewed within us and the vow of our consecration is confirmed. Scripture, therefore, should always be “nourishment of our life and of your contemplation and daily life, so that you can then share this transforming experience” (FRANCIS, Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei quaerere , 19).

The path of sanctification of a consecrated person, of a nun, however, no matter how rich in fervour and inspiration, cannot be reduced to a merely personal journey. It has a necessary community dimension, in which the proclamation of Paschal liberation takes tangible form in fraternal service, a reflection of Christ’s universal love for the Church and for humanity.

In this regard, synodality, promoted by Pope Francis as fundamental for the life of the Church, is translated in the monastery into the daily practice of “walking together”, reciprocal listening, community discernment under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and communion with the local Church and with the Benedictine family. This is manifested in the fraternal assembly, in common prayer and in shared decisions, where authority and obedience come together in dialogue, to seek God’s will together. Monastic life cannot be understood simply as withdrawal from the outside world. It is a means by which a love similar to that of the Master may grow in the hearts of the disciples, ready to share and to help, even amongst monasteries. Monastic life will thus increasingly become, in a world often marked by self-absorption and individualism, a model for the whole of God’s People, reminding us that being missionaries, before doing things, requires a way of being and of conducting relationships.

Here we might mention a particular aspect specific to cloistered missionary life: that of intercession, in which the Word made prayer unites us to Christ the Mediator, who intercedes for us (cf. Heb 7:25). Intercession is the prerogative of hearts that beat in harmony with God’s mercy (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church , 2635), ready to gather up and present to the Lord the joys and sorrows, the hopes and anxieties of people today and of every age (cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes , 1), and this is a primary and fundamental aspect of the work entrusted to you.

A model of this is the prophetess Anna, who “did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day” ( Lk 2:37). Having been widowed and now advanced in years, she had made the house of God her home. Prayer and asceticism led her to recognize the Messiah in the poor and anonymous child presented by Mary and Joseph: they enabled her to discern, within the fabric of history, God’s intervention and to make of it a prophetic proclamation of joy and hope for the entire people of Israel.

Prophecy and discernment lead us to a final theme I would like to speak to you about: ongoing formation, particularly necessary in an age like ours. It consists first and foremost in “knowing the love of Christ which goes beyond all knowledge” (Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, Instruction Cor Orans , 223) and is fundamental so that consecrated life “may carry out [its] service to the monastery, to the Church and to the world in an ever more appropriate manner” ( ibid . 236). The entire community is the active agent in this, through prayer, the Word, moments of celebration and decision-making, of discussion and renewal, lived and shared in the primacy of charity. This implies a commitment, for all of you, with wisdom and prudence, to encourage every good intention and to direct every effort towards common growth in the capacity for giving, so that every monastery may become, as Saint Benedict desired, ever more a “school of the Lord’s service” (cf. Prologue to the Rule , 45).

Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for the immense and hidden good you do for the Church, through your offering, your unceasing prayer, your service, and the witness of your life. Continue this work, which is “the work of God” (cf. Saint Benedict, Rule, 43, 3). I entrust you to Mary Most Holy, Mother of Silence, Woman of Listening, to Saint Benedict, to Saint Scholastica, and to the many Benedictine saints, and I bless you from my heart.

13-23 April Apostolic Journey of the Holy Father Leo XIV in Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea

26 April Fourth Sunday of Easter Saint Peter’s Basilica 9.00 Holy Mass with presbyteral ordinations

2 May Basilica of Saint John Lateran 17.00 Holy Mass with episcopal ordinations

8 May Pastoral Visit of the Holy Father Leo XIV to Pompeii and Naples 10.30 Holy Mass at the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii

24 May Sunday of Pentecost, Solemnity Saint Peter’s Basilica 10.00 PAPAL CHAPEL Holy Mass

6-12 June Apostolic Journey of the Holy Father Leo XIV in Spain

20 June Pastoral Visit of the Holy Father Leo XIV to Pavia 17.00 Celebration of Vespers

29 June Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles, Solemnity Saint Peter’s Basilica 9.30 PAPAL CHAPEL Holy Mass with the blessing and imposition of the Pallia upon the new Metropolitan Archbishops

4 July Pastoral Visit of the Holy Father Leo XIV to Lampedusa 10.00 Holy Mass

Vatican City, 30 March 2026

✠ Diego Ravelli Titular Archbishop of Recanati Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations

Appointment of Prefect of the Papal Household

Appointment of Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State

Appointment of apostolic nuncio in Italy and the Republic of San Marino

Appointment of members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors

Appointment of members of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development

 

Appointment of Prefect of the Papal Household

The Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Petar Rajič, titular of Sarsenterum, until now apostolic nuncio in Italy and the Republic of San Marino, as Prefect of the Papal Household.

 

Appointment of Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State

The Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, titular of Mesembria, until now apostolic nuncio in Colombia, as Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.

 

Appointment of apostolic nuncio in Italy and the Republic of San Marino

The Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, titular of Telepte, until now Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, as apostolic nuncio in Italy and the Republic of San Marino.

 

Appointment of members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors

The Holy Father has appointed the following as members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors: the distinguished Ms. Susan Lynn Bissell , researcher at the FXB Centre for Health and Human Rights of Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America, and Mr. Laurent Delvolvé , member of the Paris Bar, France.

 

Appointment of members of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development

The Holy Father has appointed the following as members of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development: Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera López , metropolitan of Monterrey, Mexico; Archbishop Fulgence Muteba Mugalu , metropolitan of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Bishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera , O.S.A., auxiliary and vicar general of the metropolitan archdiocese of Cuzco, Peru; the Reverend Fathers Daniel Gerard Groody , C.S.C., vice dean and associate dean for Undergraduate Education at the University of Notre Dame, United States of America, and Rampeoane Hlobo , S.J., director of the Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network – Africa in Nairobi, Kenya; the Reverend Sister Linah Siabana , S.M.N.D.A., psychologist; the distinguished Meghan J. Clark , vice dean of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies of Saint John’s University in New York, United States of America; Dylan Mason Corbett , executive director of the Hope Border Institute in El Paso, United States of America; Léocadie Wabo Lushombo , I.T., professor of ethical theology at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, United States of America; Christine Nathan , president of The International Catholic Migration Commission in Geneva, Switzerland; Carlos A. Nobre , researcher at the Instituto de Estudos Avançados of the Universidad de São Paulo , Brazil.

This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience the members of the Ausilia Foundation.

The following is the greeting addressed by the Pope to those present at the meeting:

 

Greeting of the Holy Father

Your Eminence, Your Excellency dear brothers and sisters,

I am pleased to greet you this morning at the start of Holy Week , a providential time for our discipleship of the Lord Jesus, who was crucified, died and rose again for us.

Thank you for your generous commitment to helping young people in their formation and integration into the workplace. Investing not in objects, but in people, in their abilities and skills, constitutes a key strength of your work. Indeed, in this way, it is the young people themselves who become the protagonists of their own future, without being regarded as functional tools for a company or cogs in the wheel of commercial success.

I therefore encourage every member of the Ausilia Foundation to persevere in the initiatives you are fostering: precisely in the current climate of uncertainty, the virtuous circle of knowledge and collaboration that you promote will certainly bear good fruit.

As a sign of esteem, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing upon all of you here present, and upon your loved ones. Thank you!