VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — The following is the full text of Pope Leo XIV‘s Regina Caeli address given May 24, the feast of Pentecost, at St. Peter’s Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!
On this Solemnity of Pentecost we are called to contemplate the gift of the Holy Spirit, poured out in abundance on the nascent Church and, today, given once again to its members, as the light and strength that accompanies them in every situation of life.
We can reflect on an image of the Spirit that is given to us by today’s liturgy: The Spirit opens the doors. The Gospel, in fact, tells us that “the doors where the disciples were were locked for fear of the Jews” (Jn 20:19), and at the same time, the Book of the Acts of the Apostles tells us that the Spirit arrived like a mighty wind (cf. Acts 2:2), who opened those doors, impelling the disciples to go out and proclaim the Good News of the risen Christ.
We can also ask ourselves today: What doors does the Holy Spirit open?
The first door is that of God himself, in the sense that he opens our path to the mystery of God, as he revealed himself in Jesus Christ. With the gift of his Spirit, God gives us true faith, enables us to understand the meaning of the Scriptures, reveals himself as close to us, and allows us to participate in his very life. The Holy Spirit helps us to have a personal experience of God, to encounter him in Jesus and not merely in the observance of a law, to recognize him in ourselves, and to discover the signs of his presence in our daily lives.
The second door is that of the cenacle, that is, of the Church. Without the fire of the Spirit, the Church remains a prisoner of fear, timid before the world’s challenges, closed in on herself and therefore incapable of entering into dialogue with the changing times. The Spirit opens the doors of the Church so that she may be welcoming and hospitable to all, even those who have closed their doors to God, to others, to hope, to the joy of living. As Pope Francis recalled, we are called to be “a Church that blesses and encourages (…) a Church with doors open to all” (Homily at the Opening Mass of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Oct. 4, 2023).
Finally, the Holy Spirit opens the doors of our hearts, helping us overcome resistance, selfishness, mistrust, and prejudice, and enabling us to live as children of God and brothers and sisters to one another. Where the Spirit of the Lord is present, brotherhood is born among individuals, groups, and peoples of the Earth, and all speak the one language of love, which unites and harmonizes diversity.
Brothers and sisters, even in our day, especially on this day of Pentecost, we must invoke the Holy Spirit to open all the doors that remain closed. We need to rediscover God as a Father who loves us, to build a Church where everyone feels at home, and to foster a fraternal world where peace reigns among all peoples.
Like the first disciples, we trust in the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Dwelling of the Holy Spirit and Mother of the Church.
After the Regina Caeli
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today is the Day of Prayer for the Church in China, the liturgical memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, venerated with great devotion in the Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai. Let us join our prayers with those of Chinese Catholics, as a sign of our affection for them and of their communion with the universal Church and with the Successor of Peter. May the intercession of the Queen of Heaven obtain for the believing community in China the grace of unity and grant everyone the strength to bear witness to the Gospel in their daily struggles, to be a seed of hope and peace. In particular, I invoke eternal peace for the victims of the accident that occurred a few days ago in a mine in northern China.
To Mary Most Holy, Help of Christians, we also entrust the Christian communities of the Holy Land, Lebanon, and the entire Middle East, who are suffering because of the war.
And now I address my greeting to all of you, faithful of Rome and pilgrims from various countries!
In particular, I greet the group of people with disabilities from Poland, as well as the pilgrims who came by bicycle from Kelmis, Belgium. Congratulations!
I wish everyone a happy Pentecost Sunday.
