Pope Leo XIV emphasises link between faith, reason

On June 20, Pope Leo XIV visited the Basilica of St Peter in Ciel d’Oro in Pavia, Italy, and after speaking there, he also addressed about 3500 people gathered between the cathedral and Piazza Vittoria.

Citing St Augustine, Pope Leo said “one cannot believe without thinking, nor is it possible to illuminate the highest questions of reason without faith”.

“With this trusting openness, human reason asks and plans,” he said. “It does not close itself within the logic of profit or domination but discovers new ways to care for itself and for the world.”

Faith, he added, reminds people that they are not “subjects of an anonymous fate” but are sustained by the certainty that God is “creator and saviour of life”.

Earlier, in his address in the basilica, Pope Leo said that, to avoid discouragement, Christians need “a gaze animated by the spirit of faith” that helps them read reality more deeply and resist “a negative and pessimistic attitude, incapable of generating new life”.

“The gaze that is required of us is instead that of Jesus,” he said.

“Christ is the foundation of the spiritual building,” Pope Leo said. “He is the cornerstone placed as the basis of our ecclesial journey, of pastoral action and of evangelisation.”

Being built in Christ, he said, protects the Church from the risk of becoming scattered or exhausted by “secondary things” that may be good but do not reach what is essential.

Pope Leo urged Christian communities to be centred on what is essential, “even if this should involve giving up some structures and some securities of the past”.

FULL STORY

At St. Augustine’s tomb, Pope Leo XIV urges Pavia to honor every human life (By Marco Mancini/EWTN News)