Bishops must be celibate and work with priests to address society’s failures, says Pope
Charles Collins/Cru• June 25, 2025
Pope Leo XIV has said that the leadership of the Church must focus on helping the Catholic faithful who are often facing despairing situations, highlighting the need for bishops to do so “with closeness” and not just through their words.
“When families are greatly burdened and public institutions fail to provide adequate support; when young people are disillusioned and fed up with empty promises; when the elderly and those with grave disabilities feel abandoned, the Bishop is close to them,” the pontiff said in St. Peter’s Basilica during his meeting on Wednesday with bishops who were in Rome for the Jubilee of Bishops.
“Not [by] offering easy solutions, but rather the experience of communities that strive to live the Gospel in simplicity and solidarity.”
The Pope told the bishops that preaching the message that “hope does not disappoint” can at times mean “swimming against the tide, even in certain painful situations that appear to be hopeless”.
“Yet it is precisely at those times when it becomes all the more apparent that our faith and our hope do not come from ourselves, but from God,” Leo continued.
“If we are truly close to those who suffer, the Holy Spirit can revive in their hearts even a flame that has all but died out.”
In his remarks, the Pope also confirmed the importance of celibacy in bishops “for the sake of the Kingdom of God”.
He explained: “Here, it is not just a question of living as a celibate, but of practicing chastity of heart and conduct, and in this way living a life of Christian discipleship and presenting to all the authentic image of the Church, holy and chaste in her members as in her Head.
“He must be firm and decisive in dealing with situations that can cause scandal and with every case of abuse, especially involving minors, and fully respect the legislation currently in force,” Leo continued.
He also highlighted the human virtues a bishop should have, as addressed in Vatican II, saying they are a “great help” in a bishop’s ministry and relationship with other people.
“They include fairness, sincerity, magnanimity, openness of mind and heart, the ability to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to suffer with those who suffer, as well as self-control, delicacy, patience, discretion, great openness to listening and engaging in dialogue, and willingness to serve.
“These virtues, which each of us possess to a greater or lesser extent by nature, can and must be cultivated in conformity to the Lord Jesus, with the grace of the Holy Spirit,” the pontiff said.
Although not mentioning many of the debates and controversies facing the Catholic Church that are highlighted by the modern media, Leo reminded the bishops that they are “the visible principle of unity in the particular Church entrusted to him”.
“It is his duty to build communion among its members and with the universal Church by fostering the variety of gifts and ministries given for its own growth and for the spread of the Gospel,” he said.
Leo ended his reflections by urging the bishops to be men of communion who promote the unity in the diocesan presbyterate.
“May every priest, without exception, sense the fatherhood, brotherhood and friendship of his Bishop,” the Pope said.
“That spirit of communion encourages priests in their pastoral outreach and makes the particular Church grow in unity.”
The Pope’s meeting with bishops follows his addressing more than 2,500 seminarians who converged in Rome this week to take part in the Jubilee of Seminarians.
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Photo: Pope Leo XIV speaks during the Jubilee of Bishops at St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican, 25 June 2025.(Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images.)