General Audiences

Pope at Audience: In Him we find the hope to face the changes in our lives and be born again

19/03/2025

Cycle of Catechesis – Jubilee 2025. Jesus Christ our hope II. The life of Jesus. The encounter 1. Nicodemus. “You must be born from above” (Jn 3:7b)

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

With this catechesis we will begin to contemplate some of the encounters narrated in the Gospels, to understand the way Jesus gives hope. Indeed, they are encounters that enlighten life and bring hope… Read more »

Pope Francis: Like Mary and Joseph, let’s search for the Lord with hope

05/03/2025

File Photo: The Paul VI Hall during one of the Pope’s previous General Audiences  (Vatican Media)

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In this last catechesis dedicated to the childhood of Jesus, we will start from the episode in which, at twelve years of age, He stays in the Temple without telling His parents, who are anxiously looking for Him and find Him after three days… Read more »

Pope Francis: Let us imitate Simeon and Anna, pilgrims of hope

27/02/2025

Armenian icon of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today we will contemplate the beauty of “Jesus Christ, our hope” (1 Tim 1:1), in the mystery of His presentation at the Temple.

In the narratives of Jesus’ infancy, the evangelist Luke shows us Mary and Joseph’s obedience to the Law of the Lord and to all its prescriptions… Read more »

Pope’s audience catechesis: Let us learn from Magi’s faith and hope in Child Jesus

19/02/2025

Image of the statue of St. John Paul II at the Gemelli hospital  (ANSA)

Dear brothers and sisters,

In the Gospels of the childhood of Jesus there is an episode which is exclusive to Matthew’s narrative: the visit of the Magi. Attracted by the appearance of a star, which in many cultures is the harbinger of the birth of an exceptional person, some wise men set out on a journey from the east, without knowing exactly where they will go… Read more »

Pope at Audience: The humble and poor bear witness to Jesus’ birth

12/02/2025

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In our Jubilee journey of catechesis on Jesus, who is our hope, today we will reflect on the event of his birth in Bethlehem.

The Son of God enters history as our travelling companion, and begins to travel while still in His mother’s womb. The evangelist Luke tells us that as soon as He was conceived, He went from Nazareth to the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth; and then, at the end of the pregnancy, from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census… Read more »

Pope at Audience: May we welcome Mary’s presence in our lives

05/02/2025

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today we will contemplate the beauty of Jesus Christ our hope in the mystery of the Visitation. The Virgin Mary visits Saint Elizabeth; but it is above all Jesus, in His mother’s womb, who visits His people (cf. Lk 1:68), as Zechariah says in his hymn of praise… Read more »

Pope at Audience: Let’s imitate St. Joseph’s holy example and faith

29/01/2025

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today we will continue to contemplate Jesus our hope in the mystery of His origins, as narrated by the infancy Gospels.

Whereas Luke lets us do so from the perspective of the mother, the Virgin Mary, instead Matthew takes the perspective of Joseph, the man who assumes the legal paternity of Jesus, grafting him onto the trunk of Jesse and linking him to the promise made to David… Read more »

Pope at Audience: Mary’s service reveals depths of hope in God

22/01/2025

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today we will resume the catecheses of the Jubilee cycle on Jesus Christ our hope.

At the beginning of his Gospel, Luke shows the effects of the transforming power of the Word of God, which reaches not only the halls of the Temple, but also the poor dwelling of a young woman, Mary, who, betrothed to Joseph, still lives with her family… Read more »

Pope at Audience: We must protect all little ones and never tolerate abuse

15/01/2025

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In the last audience we spoke about children, and today too we will talk about children. Last week we focused on how, in his work, Jesus repeatedly spoke of the importance of protecting, welcoming and loving the little ones.

Yet, even today in the world, hundreds of millions of minors, despite not being of the minimum age to undergo the obligations of adulthood, are forced to work and many of them are exposed to particularly dangerous work; not to mention the boys and girls who are slaves to trafficking for prostitution or pornography, and forced marriages… Read more »

Pope at Audience: Protect childhood and nurture hope

08/01/2025

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

I wish to dedicate this and the next catechesis to children, and to reflect in particular on the scourge of child labour.

Nowadays we want to turn our gaze towards Mars or towards virtual worlds, but we struggle to look in the eyes of a child who has been left at the margins and who is exploited or abused… Read more »