To Participants in the Events Promoted by the Military Ordinariate for Italy (Ordinariato Militare per l'Italia) (7 March 2026)
Pope Leo XIV
Document summary
Greeting participants in the Centenary of the Military Ordinariate for Italy, and urging the Military Ordinaries from other countries to deepen collaboration among Ordinariates worldwide, Leo XIV presents the motto Inter Arma Caritas as guiding an event of memory, relevance and prophecy. Against a society that transmits information but struggles to internalize it, he describes Christian memory as a living conscience rooted in God's entry into history, embodied in men and women in uniform who served in peace and war, sometimes at the cost of their lives. Recalling Paul VI's teaching that history is a place of grace for building a civilization of love, he calls military service an act of love and asks chaplains to live their ministry as amoris officium, quoting Augustine on Jesus' dialogue with Peter.
The chaplain's often silent work in bases, field tents, chapels and training institutes also serves dialogue among peoples, cultures and religions. Citing Gaudium et spes 78, the Pope calls the soldier's mission a vocation rather than a mere profession and asks that military codes and missions be inspired by the Gospel. He recalls that Saint John Paul II established Military Ordinariates as particular Churches through Spirituali militum curae forty years ago, quoting his 2000 Jubilee image of the soldier as sentinel, and encourages the planned Pastoral Centre, chaplain formation, and a Centre for Advanced Studies in Spiritual Assistance.
Cite this Document
Document details
- Document name
- To Participants in the Events Promoted by the Military Ordinariate for Italy (Ordinariato Militare per l'Italia) (7 March 2026)
- Citation title
- Speech to Participants in the Events Promoted by the Military Ordinariate for Italy (Ordinariato Militare per l'Italia)
- Author
- Pope Leo XIV
- Language
- English
- Year
- 2026-03-07
- Publisher
- Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Publishing House
- Publisher Location
- Events Promoted
- Document Category
- Speech
- Corpus classification
- Magisterial
- License
- Non commercial