Pope Francis emphasized that merely being "technically faithful" to religious law is insufficient. The Law's true purpose is to guide people toward a relationship of love with God and others, a purpose fulfilled by love itself. Jesus did not intend to abolish the Law of Moses but to bring it to fulfillment through love. A concrete example given was marital fidelity, which requires mutual tenderness and care beyond simply avoiding adultery. The required righteousness in the Kingdom of God must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees by opening one to love rather than just external observance.
20 days ago
Pope Leo XIV delivered an Angelus address on February 15, 2026, reflecting on Matthew 5:17-37 from the Sermon on the Mount.1
He emphasized that Jesus did not abolish the Law but fulfilled it through love.1
The Law serves as a guide to a relationship of love with God and others, not mere external righteousness.1
Jesus contrasts formal observance with the deeper righteousness of the Kingdom, surpassing that of scribes and Pharisees.1
Pope Leo stressed that love completes the Law's purpose.1
True righteousness requires opening the heart to love beyond minimal commandments.1
Avoiding physical murder is insufficient if words destroy dignity.1
In marriage, technical fidelity without tenderness, respect, listening, care, and shared goals falls short.1
Jesus uses antinomies like "You have heard... but I say to you" to highlight love's demands.1
The Pope invoked the Virgin Mary to help live this righteousness.1
Pope Francis stresses love over mere legal observance in faith
Pope Francis consistently teaches that authentic Christian faith transcends mere legal observance, finding its fulfillment in love—love for God and neighbor—that echoes the new commandment of Christ. Drawing from Scripture, particularly St. Paul's Letters, he portrays the Mosaic Law as a "pedagogue" guiding believers toward an encounter with Jesus, where faith "working through love" (Gal 5:6) becomes the supreme rule of life. This emphasis counters legalism, which reduces faith to external compliance, and invites a transformative mercy that liberates the heart.
At the heart of Pope Francis's reflection on this theme is St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians, where the Apostle insists that the Covenant precedes the Law, and salvation comes through faith in Christ, not "works of the law." The Law, while divinely inspired and possessing a role in salvation history, does not confer life on its own; it serves as a journey toward faith. As Pope Francis explains in a catechesis on Galatians, "the Law is the 'pedagogue' toward Christ... the teacher that leads you by the hand toward the encounter." This pedagogue unmasks sin and prepares the soul, but only the paschal mystery of Christ—His death and resurrection—brings justification through mercy. Legalism, by contrast, distorts justice into a burdensome observance that divides people into "just and sinners," ignoring the Father's merciful outreach.
Jesus Himself models this shift, quoting Hosea: "I desire love and not sacrifice" (Hos 6:6). He dines with sinners, goes "beyond the law," and reveals mercy's depth, challenging Pharisees who prioritize ritual over human dignity. Pope Francis highlights how St. Paul, once zealous for legal justice (Phil 3:6), undergoes conversion on the Damascus road, reordering his vision: "faith first, not justice." God's justice, then, is His mercy, liberating the oppressed (Ps 51:11-16).
Pope Francis deepens this in his magisterium, presenting mercy not as an abstract idea but a "concrete reality" and "visceral love" that gushes from God's depths. In Misericordiae Vultus, he unites justice and mercy as "two dimensions of a single reality" culminating in love's fullness. Legalism obscures this by fostering a "vision of justice as the mere observance of the law," but Christ reveals mercy as the gift that pardons sinners. The woman caught in adultery exemplifies this: Jesus silences accusers, reads her heart's desire for freedom, and declares, "Neither do I condemn you... do not sin again" (Jn 8:10-11). Her misery is "clothed with the mercy of love," enabling a new life oriented toward charity (Eph 5:2).
Echoing St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Francis affirms a "hierarchy of virtues" where charity reigns supreme: "faith working through love" (Gal 5:6) summarizes the Law—"love your neighbour as yourself" (Gal 5:14; Rom 13:8-10). Mercy is the "greatest of all the virtues," manifesting God's omnipotence and compensating for others' deficiencies. In Lumen Fidei, faith's light, born of encountering God's love, serves justice, law, and peace by fostering trustworthy relationships grounded in divine love. It builds societies journeying toward hope, as seen in figures like Samuel and David, whose faith enabled just governance (Heb 11:33).
Pope Francis warns against modern echoes of Pharisaic legalism, such as "fundamentalists" who infiltrated Galatia, demanding Mosaic observance over Gospel freedom. He rejects "pastoral opportunism" accusations, affirming parrhesia: pleasing God, not men (Gal 1:10). This extends to critiques of "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism," where faith becomes self-help without the kerygma—Christ's loving sacrifice. True evangelization, as in Evangelii Gaudium, proclaims: "Jesus Christ loves you, he gave his life to save you." All baptized are "missionary disciples," sharing Eucharistic love without needing "lengthy training."
In Gaudete et Exsultate, he urges seeking the essential: theological virtues, with charity at the center, over Pelagian self-reliance. The People of God's law is love (Jn 13:34), overcoming division through prayer for enemies.
This teaching resonates with saints like St. Francis of Assisi, whose devotion—kissing priests' hands, embracing poverty—embodied subjection and Christ-centered love, influencing Pope Francis's vision. Bonaventure's theology underscores love as essential in God, relational and heterologic, not ego-centric. Mercy hypostasizes love, concretized for particular persons, as in the Good Samaritan.
Pope Francis calls believers to embody this: commandments as pedagogues to Christ, but the encounter with Jesus paramount. Pray the Creed, observe commandments, yet prioritize love's law.
In summary, Pope Francis's stress on love over legal observance restores the Gospel's heart: faith as encounter yielding merciful love that fulfills and surpasses the Law. This liberates for missionary discipleship, building communion amid individualism. May we, like the healed blind man, cry out for sight to see with "new eyes."