The Pope: The Church’s mission is not to survive, but to communicate God’s love

14 April, 2026

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Exaudi Staff

Leo XIV

14 April, 2026

7 min

The Pope: The Church’s mission is not to survive, but to communicate God’s love

In the midst of Easter 2026, the Holy Father sends a fraternal letter inviting a renewal of the Church's missionary conversion based on Pope Francis's Apostolic Exhortation

From the Vatican, on April 12, 2026, Pope Leo XIV addressed a personal letter to all the cardinals, renewing his gratitude for the Consistory held in January and elaborating on the reflections that arose from the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium . The text, published on the Vatican’s official website, breathes Easter hope and focuses on what is essential: the kerygma as the heart of Christian identity.

The opening greeting sets the tone: “In this holy Easter season, I wish to extend my cordial and fraternal greetings to you, so that the peace of the Risen Lord may sustain and renew our suffering world.” The Pope then expresses his gratitude for the cardinals’ participation in the January Consistory, highlighting the quality of the exchange in the working groups and the plenary assembly. These contributions, he affirms, “constitute a precious heritage” that he wishes to safeguard and nurture through ecclesial discernment.

Leo XIV focuses particularly on what emerged in the groups dedicated to Evangelii Gaudium , in reference to the mission and transmission of the faith. He recalls that in his closing address at the Consistory he mentioned some elements concerning synodality, but now he wants to emphasize how this Exhortation “continues to represent a decisive point of reference.” It is not just about new content, he stresses, but about refocusing everything on the kerygma : the proclamation of God’s love manifested in Jesus Christ.

According to the Pope, the contributions of the cardinals reveal that Evangelii Gaudium acts as a “breath of fresh air” capable of initiating processes of pastoral and missionary conversion rather than producing immediate structural reforms. This perspective challenges the Church on three clear levels:

On a personal level : each baptized person is called to renew their encounter with Christ, moving from a received faith to a lived and experienced faith. This affects the quality of their spiritual life, with the primacy of prayer, witness preceding words, and coherence between faith and life.
At the community level : there is an urgent need to move from a pastoral approach focused on preservation to one focused on mission. Communities must be welcoming, use accessible language, cultivate quality relationships, and offer spaces for listening, accompaniment, and healing.
At the diocesan level : pastors have the responsibility to firmly support missionary boldness, preventing it from being stifled by organizational excesses and fostering a discernment that puts the essential first.

The Holy Father summarizes this vision as a “profoundly unified understanding of mission”: Christ-centered and kerygmatic, born of a transformative encounter with Christ and spread “by attraction rather than conquest.” It is a holistic mission that unites explicit proclamation, witness, commitment, and dialogue, without falling into proselytism or a logic of mere preservation or institutional expansion. Even when the Church recognizes itself as a minority, it is called to live “without complexes,” like a small flock bearing hope, whose aim is not its own survival, but “the communication of the love with which God loves the world.”

Among the specific indications that deserve to be taken more seriously, Leo XIV mentions:

Relaunch Evangelii gaudium to honestly verify what has truly been assimilated and what remains unknown or unput into practice.
The necessary reform of Christian initiation itineraries.
To value apostolic and pastoral visits as authentic kerygmatic occasions and opportunities for growth in relationships.
Reconsider the effectiveness of ecclesial communication, even at the level of the Holy See, from a more clearly missionary perspective.

The letter concludes with renewed thanks for the service of each cardinal and announces that, with a view to the next Consistory (scheduled for June 26 and 27), a more detailed communication will be sent to properly prepare for the meeting.

“In the risen Lord, the source of our hope, I extend to you my most cordial Easter greetings,” the Pope writes before signing: “With fraternal esteem, in Christ. Leo XIV.”

A short but profound letter, inviting careful reading. In just a few lines, Leo XIV reminds us that the Church does not exist for itself, but to joyfully proclaim the Gospel. A message that, in the Easter season, resonates with particular timeliness and hope.

LETTER OF POPE LEO XIV
TO THE CARDINALS

___________________________________

Your Eminence,

During this holy season of Easter, I wish to convey to you my heartfelt and fraternal greetings, in the hope that the peace of the risen Lord may sustain and renew our suffering world.

I likewise renew my gratitude for your participation in the Consistory last January. I greatly appreciate the work carried out in the groups, which facilitated free, concrete and spiritually fruitful exchanges, as well as the notable quality of the interventions made during the plenary. The compiled contributions constitute a resource of lasting value, which I hope will be reflected on further, and will mature through ecclesial discernment.

In my concluding remarks in January, I already referred to some elements regarding synodality that emerged from the groups. Now, I wish to focus in particular on what emerged from the groups regarding Evangelii Gaudium, especially concerning mission and the transmission of the faith.

Your contributions make it clear that this Exhortation continues to be a significant point of reference. In addition to introducing new content, it refocuses everything on the kerygma as the heart of our Christian and ecclesial identity. It was recognized as a “breath of fresh air,” capable of initiating processes of pastoral and missionary conversion — rather than producing immediate structural reforms — and thus profoundly guiding the Church’s journey.

Indeed, you emphasized how this perspective challenges the Church at every level. On a personal level, it calls every baptized person to renew their encounter with Christ, moving from a faith merely received to a faith truly lived and experienced. This journey affects the very quality of spiritual life, expressed in the primacy of prayer, in the witness that precedes words, and in the coherence between faith and life. At the community level, it calls for a shift from a pastoral approach of maintenance to one of mission. This requires communities to be living agents of the proclamation — welcoming communities that use accessible language, attentive to the quality of relationships, and capable of offering places for listening, accompaniment and healing. At the diocesan level, the responsibility of Pastors to resolutely support missionary boldness emerges clearly, ensuring that such boldness is not weighed down or stifled by organizational excesses, but is guided by a discernment that helps us to recognize what is essential.

From all this flows a profoundly unified understanding of mission, which is Christ-centered and kerygmatic. It is born of an encounter with Christ that is capable of transforming lives and spreading through attraction rather than conquest. It is an integral mission, holding in balance explicit proclamation, witness, commitment and dialogue, and yielding neither to the temptation of proselytism nor to a merely institutional mentality of preservation or expansion. Even when the Church finds herself in a minority, she is called to live with confident courage, as a small flock bringing hope to all, mindful that the aim of mission is not its own survival, but the communication of the love with which God loves the world.

Among the specific suggestions that emerged, the following deserve to be welcomed and reflected on further: the need to relaunch Evangelii Gaudium through an honest assessment of what has actually been embraced over the years and what, by contrast, remains unfamiliar or unimplemented, with particular attention to the necessary reforms of the processes of Christian initiation; the importance of valuing apostolic and pastoral visits as authentic opportunities for kerygmatic proclamation and for a growth in the quality of relationships; and the similar need to reassess the effectiveness of ecclesial communication, including at the level of the Holy See, from a more explicitly missionary perspective.

With a grateful heart, I renew my thanks for your service and contribution to the life of the Church. In regard to the forthcoming Consistory, which will take place from 26 to 27 June, more detailed information will be provided in due course to assist with the necessary preparations.

In the risen Lord, source of our hope, I send you my warmest Easter greetings.

With fraternal esteem in Christ,

From the Vatican, 12 April 2026

LEO PP. XIV

Exaudi Staff

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