Monastic life recalls primacy of God, Pope tells Vallombrosians (Dicastery for Communication)

Pope Leo XIV received participants in the general chapter of the Vallombrosian Benedictines, a monastic reform founded by St. John Gualbert (c. 985-1073).

“I thank all of you for the gift that your monastic life represents, recalling the entire Church to the primacy of God as the source of joy and the basis of personal and social transformation,” the Pope said on June 28.

“We are often less strong than in the past, less young, less numerous, at times harmed by human limitations and mistakes, but the Gospel welcomed sine glossa [without a gloss] will never cease to spread the fragrance of its beauty,” the Pope continued. “Let nothing hold you back from the original need to reform, renew and simplify, to the benefit of everyone, that Christian life that is still able to broaden the horizons and the breath of every human existence.”