On the first anniversary of Pope Leo XIV’s election, the Presidency of the CCEE extends its congratulations to the Holy Father on behalf of all the bishops of Europe and assures him of their constant prayers to the Lord for him and his apostolic ministry. The CCEE also thanks the Pope for his teaching and for the special attention he has given to the Churches in Europe.
When, on 8 May 2025, Leo XIV blessed the people of God for the first time from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, he inaugurated a pontificate whose guiding principles are bound to challenge the European continent regarding its values and the building of a common home.
From the very beginning of his pontificate, Leo XIV spoke of an “unarmed and disarming peace”, a crucial issue on a European continent that has been grappling for the past five years with the war in Ukraine, as well as with the consequences of nearby conflicts in the Middle East and, more recently, in the Gulf.
As Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the then Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost participated in several meetings of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences and is familiar with the major challenges facing the European continent. In this first year of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV did not view Europe as a simple institutional construct; rather, he described it as a historical subject with a global responsibility, a community of peoples called to rediscover the meaning of its vocation to peace, to defend human dignity, and to promote dialogue.
In his speech to members of the European People’s Party on 25 April, Leo XIV emphasized that “The European project, which arose from the ashes of the Second World War, was certainly born out of the practical necessity to prevent such a conflict from ever happening again. However, it is equally imbued with an ideal vision, namely the desire to foster a cooperation that would overcome centuries of division and enable the peoples of the continent to rediscover the human, cultural and religious heritage they share. The founding fathers were inspired by their personal faith, and considered Christian principles to be a common and unifying element that could help bring an end to the spirit of revenge and conflict that had led to the Second World War”.
We are aware of the call to live out our faith firsthand, beginning first and foremost with the centrality of Christ. This was emphasized by Leo XIV in his very first homily as Pope, during the Mass pro Ecclesia in the Sistine Chapel on 9 May 2025: “Move aside, so that Christ may remain”.
We have seen the centrality of Christ in every appeal, in every speech, and in every homily delivered by Pope Leo during this first year of his pontificate. We followed him to Nicaea, where he commemorated the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council, and we accompanied him in prayer in Lebanon, the “Country-Message” from which a new call for peace must arise. But we have also followed with interest Pope Leo XIV’s journey to Africa, aware that his call to remove the obstacles to integral human development challenges the European continent first and foremost, which today faces a new wave of secularization and the need to respond with Christian realism to the rise of new populist movements.
We must do it living “a healthy secularism”, as Leo XIV himself emphasized on 29 September 2025 to the members of the Working Group on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue of the European Parliament. Healthy secularism means making a clear distinction between religion and politics, which thereby acknowledges the public relevance of the religious dimension and its contribution to personal development and social coexistence.
On 10 December 2025, Pope Leo XIV then remarked to the members of the parliamentary group European Conservatives and Reformist that “European identity can only be understood and promoted in reference to its Judeo-Christian roots”, recognizing a historical and cultural reality that has had a profound impact on European civilization – from cathedrals to art, from music to universities, and in the development of science.
On 18 March 2026, while meeting with the participants at the conference “Today who is my neighbor?” promoted by the CCEE, the CEI (Italian Bishops’ Conference) and by the WHO, Leo XIV clearly highlighted the inequalities in Europe – poverty, loneliness, isolation, difficulties in accessing care, as well as the mental health crisis – and emphasized that health is a universal right.
In the Pope’s view, Europe will remain true to itself only if it is able to defend the most vulnerable among us as well as refusing to accept that social divisions are considered the norm.
Today we want not only to pay tribute to the Pope, who is able to view the European continent with clarity, but also to the Augustinian Robert Prevost, the self-proclaimed “son of St. Augustine” as of 8 May 2025.
In one of his writings as an Augustinian, recently published by the Vatican Publishing House (LEV) in the volume “Free under Grace”, Prevost commented on the famous Regensburg lecture by Benedict XVI. The then General of the Augustinians wrote in a speech, delivered at the opening of a meeting on the situation of his religious order in Europe: “The central point from the speech of Benedict XVI – and few have grasped it – is that unless the West rediscovers a vision of God, it cannot engage in a fruitful dialogue with the world’s great cultures, which possess a deep religious conviction about reality”.
He then added: “We too, therefore, are called to ask ourselves a fundamental question: in what way does our vision of God, or our experience of God, shape our lives and our ministry? If we consider our own situation and that of the Church in Europe, serious concerns arise, especially regarding what the future holds for us.”
That question remains relevant today; we feel its vitality and presence in the pontificate of Leo XIV, and we wish to embrace it as part of our reflection as bishops and pastors. We look forward to receiving continued inspiration from the Pope; we await further major addresses on European issues – conscious that there is currently an open invitation for the Pope to speak to the European Parliament in Strasbourg – and we stand ready to engage with the Pope, whilst being grateful for his European magisterium and even more so for his universal magisterium.
Photo: @Vatican Media