Pope Leo: Shared humanity is antidote to war and polarization

Meeting with the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation, Pope Leo XIV highlights the importance of the Church’s Social Doctrine in a divided world, saying freedom must be lived as self-giving and dialogue grounded in truth.

Pope Leo meets with members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation (@Vatican Media)

Pope Leo XIV held an audience with members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation on Saturday.

Around 400 people are taking part in the foundation’s 2026 General Assembly and International Conference.

In his address, the Pope urged Catholics to draw on the Social Doctrine of the Church to respond to the issues that face society, including war, polarization, and social divisions.

He noted that the foundation’s annual meeting coincided with the recent publication of his encyclical Magnifica humanitas.

“In the midst of fragility, a new hope arises,” he said. “Even as division seems to grow, a common denominator that indisputably unites us all appears: our shared humanity.”

Pope Leo said moments of adversity call the human person to return to the fundamental questions that have stirred the hearts of generations: “Where are we going? Toward what goal do we wish to orient ourselves? What direction should we choose as a people and as a human community?”

These questions, he said, reveal humanity’s search for truth and awaken our thirst for God and meaning.

They also point to the deepest aspects of the human person, especially the “God-given gifts of reason and freedom,” through which men and women can come to know the truth and choose what is good.

Reflecting on freedom, Pope Leo warned against reducing it to “the capacity to do what one wants.”

True freedom, he said, only finds fulfilment when we live it as a gift of self and openness to others.

When freedom becomes absolute in an individualistic way, he added, it loses its original meaning and dignity.

The Pope connected this vision to the two cities described by St. Augustine: the City of Man, built on pride and self-love, and the City of God, built on love of God and selflessness.

The City of God, he said, is founded on relationships and makes it possible to build a true civilization of love.

Recalling the crisis facing contemporary democracies, Pope Leo said the true cause arises from an anthropological crisis, since humanity has forgotten God and therefore how to love one another.

Despite this, the Pope said Christians must not give in to despair. Instead, we are called to do our part through steady fidelity in daily life.

In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV reminded the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation that dialogue grounded in truth is required to create a civilization built on love.

“Bearing in mind the innate dignity of every individual,” he said, “allows selfishness and particular interests to be overcome in favor of the common good.”

Devin Watkins
Source: vaticannews.va/en