Message of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to Priests on the Occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests

Dear brother priests,

On the day when the Church ponders her Lord’s pierced Heart, from which gushes forth an inexhaustible fountain of peace and unity for all humanity, I first address to myself and to all of youthe words that God spoke to the people of Israel: “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev19:2; cf. 1 Pt 1:16).  This divine call echoes down the ages.  Even today it resonates strongly withevery believer and, in a particular way, with us priests.  Holiness is neither one option among many nor an abstract ideal, for it involves the very identity of every person who wishes to share in the life of the risen One.

Holiness is sharing in Christ’s mystery

God invites us to share in his own holiness.  When he calls us to be holy as he is holy, he indicates that the path we must follow involves being fashioned after his own Heart. And for us, dear brothers, this call is particularly radical.  The Lord has promised: “And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer 3:15). The holiness he asks of us is a trustful abandonment, allowing ourselves to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Yet it is precisely here that the great paradox of our priestly life emerges. We are called to share in God’s own holiness, but we carry this treasure in earthen vessels (cf. 2 Cor 4:7).  We are limited and imperfect, often weak and weary, and at times wounded. How can such a vulnerablehuman heart respond to such a high calling? The priest lives this tension.  Yet at the same time, he must recognize that he finds peace in the open side of the Lord Jesus. 

A journey toward union

The union of our heart with Christ’s Heart is not an experience reserved for a select few; rather, it is a sacramental, Eucharistic journey that unfolds each day of our lives.  Dear brothers, by our ordination we have been configured to Christ, yet we must always renew within ourselves the gift of grace through our daily celebration of the Eucharist, prayer, meditation on the word of God and humble service to our brothers and sisters.  Let us remain united to Christ in everything — in all that we do and in all that happens to us every day.  Then the holiness that we have sought in vain through isolated efforts will reveal itself for what it is: a response to the grace that precedes, sustains and transforms us. Indeed, our humanity is not compartmentalized.  Prayer, ministry, relationships, weariness, joys and failures — even time or love that apparently seems wasted — allbecome privileged places where God reveals himself and his infinite love.  

The priest who has an upright, simple and pure heart can be contemplative in the midst of action, merciful and faithful in times of trial, and joyful in the gift of himself.  The world greatlyneeds pastors who offer more than simply words or programs; it needs the living witness of a reconciled heart that exudes the sweet fragrance of Christ’s holiness.  A priestly life that is steady and configured to Jesus’ Heart is a credible sign of unity, peace and mercy.  Thus, in an age marked by division and fear, we must be builders of peace and witnesses of the tenderness of the Good Shepherd who knows how to gather the scattered and heal the wounded.  Our zeal is notrestlessness, but the overflowing of a love that is “‘ecstasy,’ openness, gift and encounter” (Francis, Encyclical Letter Dilexit Nos, 28). 

The Heart of Christ is the heart of the saints

The response to the call to holiness lies not so much in works of asceticism or striving forperfection –– though these are necessary –– but in trusting adherence to the love revealed in Jesus’ pierced Heart.  The Apostle John invites us to contemplate the open side of the crucified One (cf. Jn19:34), in which God definitively shows us what holiness is: not an inaccessibly distant or detached perfection, but a love that gives itself even to the point of being wounded and so can become a source of mercy and life.  The Sacred Heart of Jesus is an exemplary image of the surpassing love of God.  It is an all-powerful love precisely because it is capable of being vulnerable and of transforming sorrow into grace and suffering into hope. 

The Sacred Heart, therefore, is the “place” where holiness is manifested as closeness and tenderness.  The priest’s holiness, then, is embodied in humble and courageous nearness, in being all things to all people, and in keeping the gate of the sheepfold open so that many can enter andfind pasture and rest (cf. Jn 10:9).  For this reason, we are called to a relationship with God thatdoes not distance us from others but brings us closer to everyone — shaping patient and tender hearts, capable of closeness, compassion and listening.  Thus, through the union of our imperfect hearts with Jesus’ pierced Heart, our journey toward holiness is fulfilled.  It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us (cf. Gal 2:20).  Such holiness cannot be lived in isolation.  Cherish your priestly fraternity: seek one another, listen to one another and support one another.  The priest who isolates himself slowly fades away; the priest who walks alongside his brothers grows.  Saint Augustine reminds us of this when he says: “How shall we avoid finding ourselves in darkness?  By loving our brothers.  What is the proof that we love our brothers?  This: that we do not fractureunity and that we practice charity” (In Epist. Io. ad Parthos II, 3).

Dear priests, renew each day your “Here I am” before Christ’s pierced Heart.  Give yourselves entirely to him, so that you may love his people with the same love with which he loves them.  And joyfully remember how the saintly Curé of Ars loved to say that “the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus” (cf. Benedict XVI, Letter Proclaiming a Year for Priests on the 150th Anniversary of the “Dies Natalis” of the Curé of Ars, 569). This love is a pledge and a guarantee that, if we surrender and offer ourselves completely, nothing of us will be lost.  I entrust each and every one of you to the Virgin Mary, Mother of Priests.  May she, who cherished the mystery of her Son in her heart, also teach us to keep alive and make the Heart of Christ, Savior of the world, beat within us.

12 June 2026, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

LEO PP. XIV