Pope Leo XIV urges a 'more missionary' Roman Curia and warns against internal divisions

Vatican City, Dec 22, 2025 / 06:25 am

Pope Leo XIV on Monday called on officials of the Roman Curia to deepen both mission and communion, urging Vatican offices to be “more mission-oriented” and cautioning against the “forces of division” that can take root even “beneath an apparent calm.”

Speaking during his annual Christmas greetings with personnel of the Church's central administration, the pope also paid tribute to Pope Francis, whom he described as his “beloved predecessor” who “this year concluded his earthly life.”

Leo said Francis’ “prophetic voice, pastoral style and rich magisterium” encouraged the Church “to place God’s mercy at the center, to give renewed impetus to evangelization, and to be a joyful Church, welcoming to all and attentive to the poorest.”

Drawing on Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium," Leo focused his address on what he called “two fundamental aspects of the Church’s life: mission and communion.”

“By her very nature, the Church is outward-looking, turned toward the world, missionary,” the pope said, adding that the Church exists to invite people into “the good news of God’s love.”

He insisted that ecclesial structures should serve evangelization rather than slow it down. “Structures must not weigh down or slow the progress of the Gospel or hinder the dynamism of evangelization; instead, we must ‘make them more mission-oriented,’” he said.

Applying that principle directly to Vatican governance, the pope said: “We need an ever more missionary Roman Curia, in which institutions, offices and tasks are conceived in light of today’s major ecclesial, pastoral and social challenges, and not merely to ensure ordinary administration.”

Leo said the mystery of Christmas highlights not only the mission of the Son of God but also the purpose of that mission: reconciliation and a new kind of fraternity. “Christmas reminds us that Jesus came to reveal the true face of God as Father, so that we might all become his children and therefore brothers and sisters to one another,” he said.

The pope warned that communion within the Church requires ongoing conversion, especially when tensions arise in workplaces and debates about doctrine and practice.

“At times, beneath an apparent calm, forces of division may be at play,” he said. He cautioned against “swinging between two opposite extremes: uniformity that fails to value differences, or the exacerbation of differences and viewpoints instead of seeking communion.”

Such patterns, he said, can lead to “rigidity or ideology” and the conflicts that follow.

Yet, he continued, Christians are united in Christ even amid real diversity. “And in Christ, though many and diverse, we are one: In Illo uno unum,” he said.

Leo called Curia officials in particular to be “builders of Christ’s communion,” emphasizing a synodal Church in which “all cooperate in the same mission, each according to his or her charism and role.”

The pope acknowledged that long years of service can leave some Vatican employees disheartened by workplace dynamics, including “the exercise of power,” “the desire to prevail,” or “the pursuit of personal interests.”

He posed the question directly: “Is it possible to be friends in the Roman Curia? To have relationships of genuine fraternal friendship?” He said it is “a grace to find trustworthy friends, where masks fall away,” where “no one is used or sidelined,” and where each person’s “worth and competence are respected.”

Such relationships, he said, require personal conversion so that “Christ’s love” can be visible.

The pope also linked internal communion to the Church’s public witness in a world marked by violence and polarization. He said this conversion becomes a sign “ad extra” in “a world wounded by discord, violence and conflict,” where there is “a growth in aggression and anger,” often “exploited by both the digital sphere and politics.”

“Dear brothers and sisters, mission and communion are possible if we place Christ at the center,” Leo said.

He also pointed to the significance of the Church’s current Jubilee year, saying it underscores that Christ “alone is the hope that does not disappoint.”

The pope referenced two major anniversaries marked this year: the Council of Nicaea, which he said returns the Church “to the roots of our faith,” and the Second Vatican Council, which “strengthened the Church and sent her forth to engage the modern world.”

Leo closed by recalling the 50th anniversary of St. Paul VI’s apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Nuntiandi," highlighting its emphasis that evangelization belongs to the whole Church and that the first means of evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life.

“Let us remember this also in our curial service: the work of each is important for the whole, and the witness of a Christian life, expressed in communion, is the first and greatest service we can offer,” he said.

Quoting Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the humility of God revealed at Christmas, Leo prayed that the Lord would grant the Curia “his own humility, his compassion and his love,” and he concluded by wishing all present “a holy Christmas” and asking God to “grant peace to the world.”

At the close of the exchange of greetings, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, offered Christmas wishes on behalf of Curia offices, the Vatican City State Governorate, and the Diocese of Rome, and the pope presented curial personnel with a copy of The Practice of the Presence of God, the spiritual classic he has recently recommended.

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This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.