The Church must listen to the world and serve it, Pope says in audience on Vatican II
September 02, 2026
Continuing his series of Wednesday general audiences on the Second Vatican Council and its documents, Pope Leo XIV today turned to Gaudium et Spes (1965).
Today’s audience, entitled “The Church: Listening to and Serving the World“ (video), took place in St. Peter’s Square. It was the twenty-fourth audience in the series and the first devoted to the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.
Pope Leo said that the document described the Church’s “pastoral character as constitutive; hence the definition of ‘pastoral Constitution.’ It is not a question of naïve optimism, but rather a renewed fidelity to the Mystery of Christ who, by becoming incarnate, chooses to share our life.”
“It is a sharing that calls on us to leave behind all passivity and indifference in the face of current events, history and people’s lives, especially in the face of the rapid and profound changes we are experiencing today,” the Pope explained. “We cannot remain as unengaged spectators; rather, we must listen with our hearts, allow ourselves to be challenged, and become involved.”
“With Christ and sustained by the power of His Spirit, believers are called to take on the burdens of their brothers and sisters, especially those who are crushed by injustice, discrimination, and violence,” the Pope continued. “Indeed, only in sharing and commitment is it possible to arrive at adequate responses, always supported by the certainty that ‘the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us’“ (Romans 8:18).
The Pontiff concluded:
In a time marked by profound changes, giving rise to worrying imbalances, the Church is called to serve the human person, listening to and welcoming the deepest questions of their heart and the longings that dwell within them, pointing to Christ as “the key, the focal point and the goal of … all human history” (GS 10). Therefore, in the Church, at every level and in every age, it is necessary to achieve the merciful kenosis of Christ, who “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant … and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6–8).
Dear brothers and sisters, may joy and hope—gaudium et spes—be the distinctive features of a Church who proclaims and bears witness to the Gospel, drawing close to the women and men of our time.
Audiences in series “Vatican Council II through its Documents”
- Introductory catechesis (1/7/26)
On Dei Verbum, the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (1965):
- God speaks to men as to friends (1/14/26)
- Jesus Christ reveals the Father (1/21/26)
- A single sacred deposit: The relationship between Scripture and Tradition (1/28/26)
- The Sacred Scripture: the Word of God in human words (2/4/26)
- The Word of God in the life of the Church (2/11/26)
On Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (1964):
- The mystery of the Church, sacrament of the union with God, and the unity of all humanity (2/18/26)
- No audience on 2/25 (Pope, Roman Curia on retreat)
- The Church, a Visible and Spiritual Reality (3/4/26)
- The Church, people of God (3/11/26)
- The Church, a Priestly and Prophetic People (3/18/26)
- On the foundation of the Apostles: The Church in her hierarchical dimension (3/25/26)
- Living stones in the Church and witnesses in the world: The laity in the People of God (4/1/26)
- Holiness and evangelical counsels in the Church (4/8/26)
- No audience on 4/15 and 4/22 (in Africa), followed by a special general audience on his apostolic journey to Africa (4/29/26)
- The Church, pilgrim in history towards the heavenly homeland (5/6/26)
- The Virgin Mary, model of the Church (5/13/26)
On Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (1963):
- The liturgy in the mystery of the Church (5/20/26)
- The reform of the liturgy: tradition and development (5/27/26)
- Rite, sign, and symbol (6/3/26)
- No audience on 6/10 (in Spain), followed by a special general audience on his apostolic journey to Spain (6/17/26)
- The mystery of the Eucharist (6/24/26)
- No audiences in July
- The prayer of the Church (8/5/26)
- The liturgical year (8/12/26)
- Sacred music (8/19/26)
- Motivations for liturgical reform (8/26/26)
On Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (1965):
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