Pope Leo XIV once again echoed his call for unity within the Catholic Church on Friday after years of political and liturgical division.
The pope made the comments at St. Peter’s Basilica as part of this year’s Holy Year week celebrations dedicated to the clergy. Pope Leo XIV urged priests not only to act in conciliation and obedience with their superiors, but also to model such obedience.
“Today, I share this desire once more with all of you,” the pope said, recalling the message of unity he shared with the faithful after his ascent to the papacy on May 8. The pontiff then quoted St. Augustine to stress the point of unity among priests and bishops: “For you I am a bishop, with you I am a Christian.”
Finding a pope who would heal the divisions within the church was a prominent theme of the conclave that ultimately led to Cardinal Prevost becoming Pope Leo XIV.
Pope Leo XIV leads a mass at St Peter’s Basilica as part of the Jubilee of Priests in the Vatican on June 27, 2025. (ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)
During the 12-year pontificate of Pope Francis, the Church found itself in turmoil as Francis sought to steer it in a direction of social justice and environmental activism. In addition, Francis also openly attacked capitalism and acted to restrict the spread of the Traditional Latin Mass, something that roiled conservative Catholics, particularly in the United States.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that two of the most influential members of the most recent conclave – Cardinals Burke and Dolan – were both American. The two high-ranking American hierarchs acted not only to thwart the preferred papal candidates of the liberal Cardinals, those who would have been seen as in line with Francis, but also promoted then-Cardinal Prevost, an American, as a compromise candidate who would be far less disruptive than Francis.
“In a world marked by growing tensions, even within families and ecclesial communities, priests are called to promote reconciliation and foster communion,” Leo said on Friday. “The Lord does not look for perfect priests, but for humble hearts that are open to conversion and prepared to love others as he himself loved us.”
Finally, Pope Leo XIV also used his time speaking with the priests to encourage them to actively search out people to become priests and fill the growing number of vacancies that have plagued the Church.
According to Vatican statistics via ABC News, “there were 407,730 priests globally at the end of 2022, down 142 from the previous year. Europe saw the greatest decline, losing 2,745 priests — a figure that was only compensated for globally by the addition of 1,676 priests in Africa and 1,160 in Asia.”
The pontiff pressed the point to his assembled priests: “Thank you for who you are, and remind everyone that it’s beautiful to be a priest. We aren’t perfect, but we are friends of Christ … and that’s enough.”
