Pope Leo XIV urges Christian formators to learn from ‘spiritual giants’ like Augustine

ROME (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV urged Christian leaders on Feb. 6 to look to the examples of “spiritual giants” including Sts. Philip Neri, Ignatius of Loyola and Augustine as models for faith formation.

Speaking to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, the pope stressed that Christian formators must “foster consistent, engaging, and personal paths of life that lead to Baptism and the sacraments, or to their rediscovery, because without them there is no Christian life.”

The “art” of Christian formation requires “patience, listening, accompaniment and verification,” Pope Leo said, emphasizing it “cannot be separated from the experience and company of those who have lived it.”

The pope cited St. Augustine’s treatise “De Catechizandis Rudibus” (“On the Catechizing of the Uninstructed”) as containing guidelines that “remain useful and valuable to this day.”

He also pointed to the example of later saints including 16th-century Italian St. John Leonardi, 17th-century Spanish St. Joseph Calasanz and 19th-century Italian St. Gaspar del Bufalo.

“We cannot stop at transmitting a doctrine, an observance, an ethic, but rather we are called to share what we live, with generosity, sincere love for souls, willingness to suffer for others, and unreserved dedication, like parents who sacrifice themselves for the good of their children,” he said.

“As indeed human life is transmitted thanks to the love of a man and a woman, so Christian life is conveyed through the love of a community,” he added. “

The pope’s speech in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace came on the final day of the dicastery’s three-day plenary assembly focused on Christian formation.

This year the Prefecture of the Papal Household set out new rules for the pope’s meeting with members of the dicastery.

Participants of the plenary meeting of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life told OSV News that during Pope Francis’ pontificate it was “always welcomed” to bring kids and spouses, with the pope blessing them and greeting full families every year.

Even though Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the dicastery’s prefect, has been “very supportive” that the rules of the meeting stay the same way, the prefecture said in 2026 it is not possible to bring families to the audience.

“We are not a dicastery like others,” one participant of the plenary meeting told OSV News. “Families and children are our identity,” said the person, who did not want to be named.

“This is how we live, and when we work for the Holy See, we also sacrifice our children in some way — so we want to be seen as laypeople in accordance with the perspective of the Second Vatican Council,” the participant indicated, hoping that in following years the family atmosphere of the meeting will be resumed.

During the dicastery’s plenary assembly, which took place at the Jesuit General Curia in Rome, the participants discussed the organization of the upcoming 2027 World Youth Day in Seoul, South Korea, as well as the 2028 World Meeting of Families and the 2026 World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.

Cardinal Farrell told the plenary that Pope Leo had expressed his hope that these world meetings “can be evangelically more effective, touch people’s hearts, transmit grace, and have a lasting impact on their lives,” becoming “authentic experiences of encounter with Jesus Christ.”

Paulina Guzik, International editor for OSV News, contributed to this article from Poland.

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