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"Being rooted in Christ" Makes Unimaginable Possible: Pope Leo XIV to Women Religious

Pope Leo XIV smiles and waves to a group of nuns during an audience with women religious on June 30, 2025, at the Vatican.
Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

ACI Prensa Staff, 01 July, 2025 / 7:17 pm (ACI Africa).

During an audience on Monday of religious sisters belonging to several orders, Pope Leo XIV told the group that rootedness in Christ allows them to “do things they perhaps never thought they could achieve.”

The Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great, the Daughters of Divine Charity, the Augustinian Sisters of the Shelter, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts came to the Vatican on June 30 for their general chapters and the Jubilee of Hope.

After praising the diversity of charisms and recalling the “great historical witnesses to the spiritual life” that inspired their foundation — such as St. Augustine, St. Basil, and St. Francis — the pontiff thanked the religious sisters for their service, especially to the weakest members of society.

Pope Leo XIV greets a woman religious during an audience with members of the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great, the Daughters of Divine Charity, the Augustinian Sisters of the Amparo, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, on June 30, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV greets a woman religious during an audience with members of the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great, the Daughters of Divine Charity, the Augustinian Sisters of the Amparo, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, on June 30, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media

He also emphasized that “the challenges of the past and the vitality of your present make clear that fidelity to the ancient wisdom of the Gospel is the best way forward for those who, led by the Holy Spirit, undertake new paths of self-giving, dedicated to loving God and neighbor and listening attentively to the signs of the times.”

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The pope then recalled the words of St. Augustine: “God is your everything. If you are hungry, God is your bread; if you are thirsty, God is your water; if you are in darkness, God is your light that never fades; if you are naked, God is your everlasting garment.”

He then addressed the following questions to the religious: “To what extent are these words true for me? How much does the Lord satisfy my thirst for life, love, or light?”

A group of nuns greets Pope Leo XIV at an audience of women religious in Rome for the Jubilee of Hope as well as meetings of their congregations on June 30, 2025, in Clementine Hall at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
A group of nuns greets Pope Leo XIV at an audience of women religious in Rome for the Jubilee of Hope as well as meetings of their congregations on June 30, 2025, in Clementine Hall at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media

For the Holy Father, this “rootedness in Christ” is what has led those who have gone before us “to do things they perhaps never thought they could achieve. This rootedness enabled them to sow seeds of goodness that, enduring throughout the centuries and across continents, have now reached practically the entire world, as your presence here demonstrates.”

The pontiff recalled the words of St. Paul to the Christians of Ephesus, praying that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:17-19).

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This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

Almudena Martínez-Bordiú is Rome correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN.

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