I am sure that EWTN’s Father Mitch Pacwa was delighted with Pope Leo’s catechism at today’s general audience as the Holy Father continues his teaching on the Vatican Council II document Dei Verbum, today highlighting Scripture and Tradition, which is precisely the name of Fr. Mitch’s weekly TV and radio show! Great minds think alike, as the saying goes!
POPE LEO: LET US RAISE OUR VOICES FOR PEACE
Tuesday evening as he was about to return to Rome from his weekly overnight stay at Castelgandolfo, Pope Leo spoke briefly to the media outside the papal residence about the situation in the Middle East, saying, “I’ll only say that we must pray very much for peace. … We little ones can raise our voices and always seek dialogue and not violence to resolve these problems, “especially on this day when we commemorate the Shoah.” Earlier, Leo XIV wrote on his X account: “Let us fight against all forms of antisemitism.” Pope Leo: Let us raise our voices for peace – Vatican News
SCRIPTURE, TRADITION INTIMATELY BOUND TOGETHER, FORM ONE SACRED DEPOSIT OF FAITH
The Paul VI Hall today was at full capacity, and then some, for Pope Leo’s weekly general audience as he continued his series of catecheses on Vatican Council II and a rereading of and reflection on its documents, having chosen the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, for his first reflection.
“Today,” Leo told the pilgrims present, “we consider the relationship between Scripture and Tradition. In the passage we just heard from John’s Gospel, Jesus says he will send the Holy Spirit to guide the Apostles to remember, apply and proclaim everything he taught. Sacred Scripture, the inspired word of God, and Sacred Tradition, the living memory of the Church, are intimately bound together and form the one Deposit of Faith. This deposit which contains the entirety of our faith –- doctrine, worship, morality, etc. –- is not static but dynamic for it develops and is more profoundly understood by the Church over the centuries, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
“Entrusted to the Church who preserves and interprets it in Jesus’ name,” stated the Pope, “this deposit helps us to navigate the complexities of life to reach our eternal home in heaven. May we become living and faithful witness to God’s word in Scripture and Tradition.”
Leo XIV explained that, “the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts his disciple and collaborator Timothy: ‘O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you!’. The dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum echoes this Pauline text when it says: ‘Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church,’ interpreted by the ‘living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ’. ‘Deposit’ is a term that, in its original meaning, is juridical in nature and imposes on the depositary the duty to preserve the content, which in this case is the faith, and to transmit it intact.”
Pope Leo stressed that the “’deposit’ of the Word of God is still in the hands of the Church and all of us, in our various ecclesial ministries, must continue to preserve it in its integrity, as a lodestar for our journey through the complexity of history and existence.”
At the end of English-language greetings, Pope Leo said, “Yesterday was the International Remembrance Day for all victims of the Holocaust, which brought death to millions of Jews and to many other people. On this yearly occasion of painful remembrance, I ask the Almighty for the gift of a world without antisemitism and without prejudice, oppression, and persecution of any human creature. I renew my appeal to the community of nations to remain ever vigilant. May the horror of genocide never again be inflicted upon any people and that a society founded on mutual respect and the common good may be built.”
He also remembered the “beloved people of Mozambique,” struck by devastating floods, and expresses his prayers for the victims and reassures his closeness to loved ones, the displaced, and rescue workers.”
Pope Leo heads back to his apartment – See you next week, Holy Father!
Joan's Rome 