By Devin Watkins
Bishops ordained to the episcopate over the course of the past year attended a Formation Course in Rome this week, which concluded on Thursday with an audience with Pope Leo XIV.
In his address, the Pope urged the new Bishops to remember that they have been chosen, called, and sent as servants of the faith.
“I wish to recall something as simple as it is not to be taken for granted: the gift you have received is not for yourselves, but to serve the cause of the Gospel,” he said.
Pope Leo then focused on the mission of service entrusted to Bishops, saying it touches on their very identity.
Service, he said, is not an external trait or set of actions, but rather a call to “inner freedom, poverty of spirit, and a readiness for service that is born of love, so as to embody Jesus’ own choice, who became poor to make us rich.”
God came to us not in power but in the love of a Father, added the Pope, noting that God calls us into communion with Himself.
St Augustine said that Bishops, who preside over others, must know that they are the “servant of many,” pointing to Jesus’ admonition of His disciples who had begun to seek greatness for themselves.
“I therefore ask you always,” said the Pope, “to keep watch and to walk in humility and prayer, so as to make yourselves servants of the people to whom the Lord sends you.”
Pope Leo XIV recalled the words of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who invited Bishops to draw near to their flock, since their closeness expresses the care of God for His people.
As servants of all, Bishops need to be aware that their ministry should embody the image of Christ and His service. But, noted the Pope, they must also shape their apostolate to reflect Christ’s service, including in their method of pastoral care, proclamation, and governance.
“The crisis of faith and of its transmission, together with the difficulties concerning ecclesial belonging and practice,” he said, “invite us to rediscover the passion and courage for a new proclamation of the Gospel.”
Bishops, he added, should welcome those who knock on the doors of the Church, while never forgetting other challenges that are more cultural and social, including war, violence, the suffering of the poor, ethical challenges, and the desire for a world based on fraternity and solidarity.
“The Church,” said Pope Leo, “sends you as caring, attentive shepherds who know how to share the journey, the questions, the anxieties, and the hopes of the people; shepherds who desire to be guides, fathers, and brothers to priests and to our sisters and brothers in the faith.”
In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV prayed that new Bishops may “never lack the wind of the Spirit, and that the joy of your Ordination, like a sweet fragrance, may also spread over those whom you are going to serve.” – Vatican News
