Pope to diplomats: Church must speak truth about humanity, world

In a May 16 speech to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, Pope Leo said that the pillars of the Church’s missionary activity, and the aim of the Holy See’s diplomacy, are peace, justice and truth.

“The Church can never be exempted from speaking the truth about humanity and the world, resorting whenever necessary to blunt language that may initially create misunderstanding,” the Pope noted. “Yet truth can never be separated from charity, which always has at its root a concern for the life and well-being of every man and woman.”

Pope Leo, speaking in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican, told the diplomats that truth is an encounter with the person of Christ who is “alive in the midst of the community of believers”.

“Truth then, does not create division, but rather enables us to confront all the more resolutely the challenges of our time, such as migration, the ethical use of artificial intelligence and the protection of our beloved planet Earth,” he said.

Pope Leo said “working for peace requires acting justly”, and the Vatican will not fail “to make its voice heard in the face of the many imbalances and injustices that lead, not least, to unworthy working conditions and increasingly fragmented and conflict-ridden societies”.

“It is the responsibility of government leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies,” he said. “This can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman.”

Also, he said, “no one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike”.

“Truly peaceful relationships cannot be built, also within the international community, apart from truth,” he said. Where “ambiguous and ambivalent” words and “the virtual world, with its altered perception of reality, takes over unchecked, it is difficult to build authentic relationships, since the objective and real premises of communication are lacking”.

The Catholic Church will always seek to speak the truth and dedicate itself to lovingly serving others and protecting the life and well-being of everyone, Pope Leo said.

FULL STORY

Church will always speak truth, work for justice, pope says (By Carol Glatz/CNS)

To Members of the Diplomatic Corps (16 May 2025) | LEO XIV (Full text of Pope Leo XIV’s address to members of the Diplomatic Corps May 16)

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