The Pope also invited Catholics to pray for priestly vocations.
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday said priestly ministry in the Catholic Church, entrusted only to men, is understood in light of apostolic succession and called for priests who are “ardent with evangelical charity” and “courageous missionaries.”
During his March 25 catechesis dedicated to the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium, from the Second Vatican Council, Leo explained that the Church “is founded on the apostles, whom Christ appointed as the living pillars of his mystical body.”
Speaking in St. Peter’s Square, the pontiff emphasized that the Church possesses a “hierarchical structure that works in the service of the unity, mission, and sanctification of all her members,” and that it is not merely an organizational structure but an institution of divine origin.
The Pope recalled that the apostles, as authoritative witnesses of the Resurrection, received from Christ the mission to teach, sanctify, and guide, and that this ministry “is handed on to men who, until Christ’s return, continue to sanctify, guide, and instruct the Church ‘through their successors in pastoral office.’”
This transmission, he explained, forms the basis of apostolic succession and of the sacrament of holy orders, which is structured in
