Pope, in book introduction, reflects on centrality of Christ, communion, peace

November 21, 2025

Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Vatican’s publishing house, has published La Forza del Evangelio: La fede Cristiana in 10 parole [The Power of the Gospel: The Christian Faith in 10 Words].

The book, published yesterday, is an anthology of texts by Pope Leo XIV on ten words: Christ, heart, Church, mission, communion, peace, poor, fragility, justice, and hope.

“I would like to choose three of these ten words, as the beginning of an imaginary dialogue with those who will read these pages: Christ, communion, peace,” Pope Leo wrote in his introduction to the book, published in Italian by the Italian episcopal conference’s newspaper.

Reflecting on the “centrality of Christ,” Pope Leo wrote that “every baptized person has received the gift of the encounter with him,” and that “the mystery of Christianity is that this God wants to unite himself to us, to be close to us, to become our friend.”

“Christ, moreover, is the principle of communion,” the Pope continued. “His whole life was marked by this desire to be a bridge: a bridge between humanity and the Father, a bridge between the people he met, a bridge between him and those on the margins.”

The Pope added:

The Church is this communion of Christ that continues in history ... Christians can and must be witnesses of this harmony, this fraternity, this closeness, in today’s world, marked by so many wars. This does not depend only on our strength, but is a gift from on high, a gift from that God who, with his Spirit, has promised us to be always at his side, alive beside us.

Turning to the theme of peace, Pope Leo recalled the risen Christ’s greeting (“Peace be with you”) and wrote:

The saints testified that love conquers war, that only goodness disarms perfidy and that nonviolence can annihilate oppression. We must look our world in the face: we can no longer tolerate structural injustices whereby those who have more, have more and more, and vice versa those who possess less, become more and more impoverished ...

“We are the times”: let us not be taken by discouragement in the face of the violence we are witnessing; let us ask God the Father, every day, for the strength of the Holy Spirit to make the living flame of peace shine in the darkness of history.

 

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Further information:

• Leone XIV: «In 10 parole c'è la forza del Vangelo» (Avvenire, 11/19/25)
• LA FORZA DEL VANGELO: La fede Cristiana in 10 parole (Libreria Editrice Vaticana)