Pope, at Mass in Rimini, reflects on service of binding and loosing
August 24, 2026
Pope Leo XIV concluded his brief pastoral visit to the Italian city of Rimini on August 22 by celebrating an outdoor evening Mass at the city’s port (video).
Reflecting on the Sunday Gospel reading (Matthew 16:13-20), Pope Leo preached on St. Peter’s confession of faith and on the power of binding and loosing that Christ entrusted to him.
“In Peter’s words [“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”] we recognize the truth that fills us with joy and hope, and we find the way that leads to life: the way of God who puts himself at the service of man, of the Master who bends down to wash the feet of the disciples, of the Shepherd who sacrifices himself for his flock,” Pope Leo preached to an estimated 25,000 people. “And it is in this light that we look at the gesture of Jesus who gives Peter the keys, because in the Church, at every level, authority is service.”
“The Pope, the Bishops, the priests and the deacons are the first to live it in this way, and the whole People of God must join them, each according to his specific call,” the Pope continued. “The Servant of God, Father Oreste Benzi, testified to this very well, saying: ‘Our vocation consists [...] in letting ourselves be conformed to the poor Christ, to Christ the servant, to Christ who expiates the sin of the world, to Christ, the incarnate Man God who lives among us in a form of direct sharing starting from the least.’“
The Pope added:
In the Church, in fact, the mission of “binding” and “loosing,” if on the one hand concerns the role of those who, in the name of the Lord, are called to exercise authority, on the other hand describes a style and a task that involves every baptized person: that of embracing, reuniting, welcoming, freeing, forgiving, emancipating anyone who is a prisoner of sin and its consequences, making us upright and wise administrators of the goods that God entrusts to us, so that everything may contribute, in charity, to the good of all.
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