Pope recalls Vatican II’s teaching on social, political, and economic life

November 05, 2026

Continuing his series of Wednesday general audiences on the Second Vatican Council and its documents, Pope Leo XIV devoted his November 4 audience (video) to the relationship between faith on the one hand and social, political, and economic life on the other.

The audience, which took place in St. Peter’s Square, was the 31st audience in the series and the eighth devoted to the Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (1965). The audience was devoted to the third and fourth chapters of Part II of the pastoral constitution; the chapters are entitled “Economic and Social Life” (nos. 63-72) and “The Life of the Political Community” (nos. 73-76).

The Pontiff briefly summarized, and at times commented upon, each of the paragraphs in the two chapters. He concluded:

Dear friends, engaging in economic and political life in accordance with these criteria is a way of building peace. As Pope Francis recalled, “war is a failure of politics and of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil.” On the contrary, politics that tends to the wounds of peoples and of those who suffer injustice offers grounds for hope for the future of humanity.

For this reason, I encourage young people to follow the example of those men and women who have borne faithful witness in these fields. And I renew my call to Christian communities to revive formation in the social doctrine of the Church.

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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):

• The Church: Listening to and Serving the World (9/2/26)
• Human dignity: gift and responsibility (9/9/26)
• The human community (9/16/26)
• The meaning of man’s activity throughout the world (9/23/26), followed by special general audience on his apostolic journey to France (9/30/26)
• The mission of the Church in the contemporary world (10/7/26)
• No general audience on 10/14/26 (Pope hospitalized)
• Commitment to the family in today’s society (10/21/26)
• The relationship between faith and culture (10/28/26)
• Faith and social, political, and economic life (11/4/26)

 

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Further information:

• General Audience (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 11/4/26)
• General Audience (Holy See Press Office, 11/4/26)
• Pope at Audience: Politics that tends wounds and fights injustice gives hope (Vatican News, 11/4/26)
• Pope warns economic inequality threatens peace, urges politicians to serve common good (CNS, 11/4/26)