Pope at Audience: 'The Church has mission to speak out against all that mortifies life'

"The Church is the pilgrim people of God on earth who, drawing precisely on the final promise, reads and interprets the dynamics of history through the Gospel, denouncing evil in all its forms and proclaiming, in word and deed, the salvation that Christ wishes to bring about for all humanity and His Kingdom..."

Pope Leo XIV stressed this at his weekly General Audience on Wednesday morning in the Vatican as he continued to reflect on the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium, reflecting this week on the eschatological dimension discussed in Chapter VII.

The Holy Father reminded the faithful that the Church journeys through earthly history always looking towards Her final destination, which is the heavenly homeland, yet lamented that we often overlook or downplay this essential dimension.

He said this tends to happen "because we are too focused on what is immediately visible and on the more concrete dynamics of the life of the Christian community."

The Kingdom of God, he underscored, is the purpose of all Her action.

"The Church," he said, "does not proclaim herself; on the contrary, everything within Her must point to salvation in Christ."

"As the guardian of a hope that enlightens the path," Pope Leo recalled, "the Church is also invested with the mission of speaking clearly to reject everything that mortifies life and prevents its development, and to take a position in favour of the poor, the exploited, the victims of violence and war, and all those who suffer in body and in spirit."

"From this perspective," Pope Leo stressed, "the Church is called to recognize humbly the human fragility and transience of Her own institutions which, despite being at the service of the Kingdom of God, bear the fleeting image of this world."

"No ecclesial institution," the Pope said, "can be treated as absolute; indeed, since they exist within history and time, they are called to continual conversion, to the renewal of forms and the reform of structures, to the continual regeneration of relationships, so that they may truly fulfil their mission."