Pope Leo XIV: ‘Holiness is not a privilege reserved for a few’
Pope Leo XIV said on All Saints’ Day that holiness is a universal calling, not a privilege reserved for a select few. He honored both canonized saints and the countless people known only to God whose loving choices reveal the Kingdom of God. Leo recalled the beatification in Savannah of Pedro de Corpa and four Franciscan companions, killed for their faith in 1597, and asked for their prayers for missionaries. After the Angelus, he welcomed humanitarian cooperation in Oleshky, praised the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, and highlighted an upcoming Mission with the Poor in Rome.
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Pope Leo XIV said on the Solemnity of All Saints that holiness is a calling for everyone, not an accomplishment reserved for a select few. In his Angelus address, he described the feast as a reminder that God sees acts of goodness and knows people’s stories even when they are hidden from others. 1
Leo said the Church’s celebration includes both canonized saints and the countless people who have not been formally recognized but are known to God. He emphasized that holiness cannot be measured by numbers, pointing instead to the love expressed in the saints’ choices and actions. 1
The saints, he said, come from varied backgrounds, cultures, and walks of life. Their lives are signs of God’s Kingdom, and the feast offers hope that goodness can exist beyond what people see. 1
The pope prayed that Mary would accompany the faithful on the path to holiness and help them persevere in fostering peace in both major situations and everyday life. 1
Leo recalled the beatification in Savannah, Georgia, of Pedro de Corpa and four fellow Franciscan friars, killed in 1597. He called for their intercession for missionaries. 1
He also expressed hope that cooperation enabling a humanitarian operation to assist civilians in Oleshky would encourage dialogue and further peace initiatives. The pope praised the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar as the first Olympic event held on the African continent, and welcomed a planned Franciscan mission with the poor in Rome from Nov. 8 to 15. 1
Ahead of the Nov. 2 commemoration of the departed, Leo said he would celebrate Mass at Rome’s Verano Cemetery and urged prayer for the dead, especially those who are not remembered by others. 1*
Holiness as a universal vocation in ordinary life
Holiness is not a special vocation reserved for clergy and religious, nor does it require withdrawing from family, work, or public life. It is the call of every Christian: to belong more fully to God and to let that relationship shape ordinary choices, duties, and relationships through love. Ordinary life is not an obstacle to holiness; lived faithfully, it is where holiness takes form.
The universal call to holiness means that every state of life can become a path of following Christ. Marriage, parenting, paid work, public responsibility, consecrated life, and service to others do not compete with holiness. Each brings its own responsibilities through which a person can grow in love and faithfulness. Pope Francis makes the point plainly:
To be holy does not require being a bishop, a priest or a religious. We are frequently tempted to think that holiness is only for those who can withdraw from ordinary affairs to spend much time in prayer. That is not the case. We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves.
The specific shape of that call depends on one’s circumstances. A spouse can pursue holiness by loving and caring for their husband or wife; a worker by practising integrity and skill in service of others; a parent or grandparent by patiently helping children learn to follow Jesus; and a person with authority by seeking the common good rather than private gain. These are not lesser, “ordinary” alternatives to holiness. They are concrete ways holiness may be lived.
Holiness does not necessarily mean doing impressive or unusual things. John Paul II described it as living ordinary things in an extraordinary way—“as lovingly as possible.” Pope Francis likewise points to the spiritual significance of everyday decisions: refusing to gossip, listening patiently to a child, keeping up a habit of prayer, participating in Sunday Mass, or stopping to help someone in need. Such acts matter not because each is spectacular, but because they can express love and loosen the grip of selfishness.
This does not mean that every routine activity is automatically holy, whatever its character. Rather, the Christian is called to bring daily life into relationship with God: to act honestly, seek what is good, and serve other people. For lay people especially, family, professional, and social responsibilities are not meant to be set aside as spiritually irrelevant. John Paul II says these activities can become occasions to unite oneself to God, fulfil his will, and serve others.
A job, for example, is not sanctifying merely because someone has it. It can become a path of holiness when carried out with honesty, competence, and concern for those affected by the work. Likewise, family life can be a school of holiness through patience, care, forgiveness, and faithful attention. Pope Francis’s examples emphasize that holiness often takes the form of doing what is already required with greater love.
The call to holiness is neither self-improvement by willpower alone nor a demand to become flawless overnight. Pope Francis describes it as opening oneself to God’s grace, which works in a person and leads them toward holiness. The Christian response includes ongoing conversion: sometimes a person must face a serious challenge; sometimes the next step is simply to do an existing duty more faithfully and lovingly.
Benedict XVI presents a simple pattern for sustaining this life: encounter the risen Christ in the Sunday Eucharist, keep contact with God in daily prayer, and follow the commandments as they are understood in the light of Christ and love. In this account, prayer and moral choices belong together. Love of God is not separated from love of neighbour; it gives daily decisions their direction.
So holiness is not a demand to manufacture extraordinary experiences. It is a call to receive God’s grace and cooperate with it in the actual conditions of one’s life. The small, repeated acts of charity are not a substitute for a relationship with God; they are among the ways that relationship becomes visible in practice.
Holiness is personal, but it is not solitary. Christians encourage one another by their example and service, and the Church’s life is strengthened by faithfulness in many different circumstances. Francis describes the patient goodness of parents, hardworking people, the sick, and elderly religious as holiness visible “next door”—not necessarily famous or publicly celebrated, yet real in persevering love.
This also corrects the idea that only canonized saints are models of sanctity. Benedict XVI notes the importance of ordinary people whose goodness may never be publicly recognized, while presenting their lives as signs of faith and examples others can imitate. The universal vocation therefore dignifies lives that seem hidden: patient care, honest labour, endurance in sickness, and quiet fidelity can all bear witness to Christ.
The practical question is not, “How can I escape my ordinary life to become holy?” but, “How can I live this part of my life more faithfully in love?” The answer will differ according to a person’s responsibilities and circumstances. But the direction is common: communion with God, integrity in one’s duties, and service to others. In that way, holiness is not remote from ordinary life. It is the way ordinary life, by grace, can become a life of love.