The accompaniment of young people wounded and thirsty for God, evangelization in a postmodern culture crossed by artificial intelligence, priestly fraternity facing the temptation of envy, and the spiritual sense of old age and illness marked the dialogue of Pope Leo XIV with the clergy of the diocese of Rome, held on Thursday, February 19, and published this Friday, February 20.
In a climate of listening, the Pontiff offered concrete and spiritual guidelines, emphasizing closeness, prayer, pastoral initiative, and fraternal life as antidotes against loneliness and pastoral superficiality.
When responding about the difficulties and temptations of ministry among young people, the Pope emphasized the complex family and emotional reality of new generations and **the need for realistic and close accompaniment.**
“A priest who accompanies these young people also means knowing their reality, being close in that sense, accompanying them, but not just being one of the young people. **This too is important: the priest’s testimony**.”
The Pope remarked that the priest must offer not only activities, but a living experience of faith:
“Being a friend of Jesus can truly fill your life. But this means that the priest himself lives a life of friendship with Jesus, to offer not only an example but a life experience that could change the lives of young people.”
Faced with the **growing isolation** -accentuated by digital culture- he invited the creation of real meeting spaces:
“With the famous smartphone they live alone, even if they say: ‘my friend is here’… but there is no human contact… We must seek how to offer another type of experience of friendship, of sharing and, little by little, of communion.”
Regarding the inculturation of the Gospel in changing urban contexts, the Pope **warned against repeated schemes without discernment**.
“If you want to love someone, you must first know them. If you want to love and serve a community, it is very important to know it.”
The Pope warned against the temptation to apply pastoral recipes without reading the context:
“I cannot bring continuity: if they change me from one parish to another, thinking: «This worked there, let’s keep doing the same thing».”
He also **directly addressed the impact of artificial intelligence** on priestly life, with a clear warning:
“Resist the temptation to prepare homilies with artificial intelligence… To deliver a true homily, which is sharing faith, AI will never be able to share faith.”
He also explained that “just as all the muscles of the body, if we don’t use them, if we don’t move them, die, the brain needs to be used, so too our intelligence, your intelligence, must be exercised a little to avoid losing this ability.”
And he emphasized the inner life as the foundation of all authentic inculturation:
“Part of the answer is the importance of a life of prayer… the time to be with the Lord… With a life authentically rooted in Him, we can offer something that is not our own.”
**Priestly fraternity: combating “clerical envy”**
He also referred to **what he called a “pandemic” within the clergy:** envy.
“It is called ‘clerical envy’: when a priest sees that another has been called to a larger parish or to a better assignment, and the bonds… are broken… with gossip and criticism. It destroys instead of building.”
The Pope was emphatic in comparing enmity and indifference:
“I don’t know what’s worse: being an enemy or being indifferent to the other.”
He proposed very concrete paths: stable groups of encounter between priests, common prayer, permanent study and fraternal coexistence.
“If I stay here sitting saying: «No one comes to visit me» —some of you may be in this situation—, let’s not be afraid to knock on the other’s door, to take the initiative, to tell our companions or a group of friends: «Why don’t we meet from time to time to study together, reflect together, have a moment of prayer and then enjoy a good meal?».”
And he added:
“Not with everyone —we are different—, but with some with whom there is trust… so as not to find yourself alone.”
He also insisted on **continuous formation:**
“Study in our life must be permanent… It is sad when someone says, ‘I have not opened a book since I left the seminary.’”
**Elderly and sick priests: gratitude, humility and mission of prayer**
In the last part of the dialogue, León XIV addressed the situation of the older priests, many marked by illness and loneliness, **proposing a spirituality of gratitude and acceptance.**
“One must prepare in life to accept old age, illness and also solitude.”
He emphasized that a life lived in communion prepares for that stage:
“However, if one has lived a whole life with a certain spirit of dialogue, friendship, communion, and fraternity, one can actually find very concrete answers to this experience of being alone and sick, for example.”
Furthermore, he lamented that there are people who, from a young age, live with a certain bitterness, who have never known how to live experiences of friendship, fraternity, or communion. And so, from a young age, or from middle age, they are immersed in bitterness, “never content with anything and always with this somewhat negative spirit.”
Faced with a culture of discarding and the debate about the end of life, he asked for testimonial coherence:
“We must be the first witnesses that life has immense value.”
He also recalled **the active role of the senior priests:**
“Even if they are sick in bed, their prayer can be a great service, a great gift. Their life still has great meaning.”
And he encouraged **not neglecting spiritual accompaniment:**
“Let us not be afraid to continue the beautiful practice of spiritual accompaniment… having someone who knows you deeply is a great gift.”
**Walking together as a presbyterate**
In conclusion, the Pope expressed his gratitude for the meeting and *reiterated the need for a synodal style also within the clergy*:
“Not just a written program, but a true spirit of fraternity and commitment to working together on our mission to serve in the Church.”
Finally, he wished the priests a fruitful Lenten path, “a time of conversion and joy,” and imparted his blessing.
**Vatican News**
Religion Digital
English version translated with AI