Pope Leo blesses thousands of seminarians gathered in Rome
The Catholic Herald• June 25, 2025
Pope Leo XIV has blessed more than 2,500 seminarians who have converged in Rome this week.
Drawn from 57 countries, ranging from Albania to Argentina, India to Italy, the United States to Ukraine, the seminarians came to the Eternal City to pray at the tomb of St. Peter and to take part in the Jubilee of Seminarians, reports the Catholic News Agency (CNA). The Vatican estimated that the number of seminarians taking part could have been as high as 4,000.
“Thank you for courageously accepting the Lord’s invitation to follow him, to be disciples, to enter the seminary. You have to be courageous and not be afraid,” Pope Leo XIV told the predominately young men gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica, and who represent the future leadership and pastorship of the Catholic Church, on 24 June.
“As Christ loved with the heart of man, you are called to love with the heart of Christ,” the Pope said in his catechesis to the seminarians, urging them to “love with the heart of Jesus”.
As part of the Jubilee of Seminarians over the course of two days, the pilgrim seminarians prayed the rosary together at the tomb of St. Paul, visited and passed through the Holy Doors of Rome’s basilicas, and knelt before the Eucharist in adoration, CNA reports.
“I think a key message is that we’re made to give ourselves away in love, while the [wider] culture says to only live for yourself,” Thomas Hammen, 28, from the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, told the US-based Catholic news wire about discerning his vocation to the Church.
“In my college years specifically, I experienced having everything the world told me that would make me happy [but] like Pope Leo has been saying over and over again, quoting St. Augustine, ‘my heart was restless.’
“Thankfully at Florida State University, I had an awesome friend who invited me on a retreat, and it was on that retreat where there was Eucharistic adoration that I heard the truth that my heart is made for God and when I live for him I come fully alive and I’m able to step into the mission that he has for me.
“I’d say my vocation is a result of God showing me mercy – and from knowing that I’m loved, [there] comes a great conviction that I’m chosen for something great and that’s really the source of my entire vocation to be a priest.”
Hammen hopes to be ordained in 2030. Pepe Zinkewich, 26, another American seminarian attending the jubilee, who comes from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, explained his path to becoming a seminarian.
“I’m No. 9 of 10 kids. I grew up in a very heavily Catholic family,” he told CNA. “But I didn’t really feel called to the priesthood until I went away for college.
“It was there that I got in contact with a very holy priest who loved the Eucharist and would die for it. And that really inspired me to follow Christ and devote myself to his Church.
“Through prayer and spiritual direction, I found my vocation to the diocesan seminary, and I’ve loved every minute of it. Ever since I entered, I thought the priesthood was going to be quiet and simple, but it has turned out to be the adventure of a lifetime!”
Zinkewich hopes to be ordained in 2029.
The task of the seminarians, the Pope said in conclusion, is to “never settle for less, never be satisfied, not be passive recipients, but to be passionate about the priestly life, living in the present and looking to the future with a prophetic heart”.
Before leading them in the proclamation of the Nicene Creed, Pope Leo expressed his hope that the seminarians can deepen their relationship with Christ, asking Him to make their hearts like His Sacred Heart, “which beats with love for each of you and for all humanity”, Vatican News reports.
The US seminarians who took part in the jubilee have come to Italy this summer for the “Rome Experience”, a six-week programme to study, pray and walk in the footsteps of the saints, CNA reports. As part of the programme, they are taking classes on Church history and Christian art and architecture while also making pilgrimages to churches and holy sites throughout Rome.
The Jubilee of Seminarians is just one of many spiritual celebrations taking place in Rome during this holy Jubilee year. Beginning today, 25 June, the Vatican will also host a Jubilee of Bishops and a Jubilee of Priests.
Photo: Pope Leo greets seminarians during their Jubilee. (Image by Vatican Media.)