Pope Leo XIV tells seminarians to serve struggling families, jobless youth and the marginalized

Pope Leo XIV received about 150 seminarians in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican on September 3 and told them the seminary is a necessary place for priestly formation. The time spent in the seminary is as needed today as it was in the past, he said, and that period should not be seen as a postponement of the mission but as the condition for exercising the ministry responsibly.

The pope described formation for the priesthood as a process of "going up the mountain" with Christ, where a man learns to be alone with him, away from the "fast and noisy time" of modern life. A vocation, he said, is not about being the best or about competing, but about a free and mysterious choice by God. "Coming down the mountain" means returning to the community to serve the people of the seminarians' own regions.

In a world that moves quickly, the pope said, the seminary can look like "a prolonged pause" or "a luxury," but it is a place where a man learns to discern and to let himself be formed without shortcuts. "Do not underestimate it," he said, adding that every stage of the seminary matters for spiritual growth. At the start of that path, he said, the relationship with God has to be cultivated in silence and prayer, and he pointed to the apostles in the Gospel of Mark, whom Jesus called to join him on the mountain. "The heart of the seminary experience is here: learning to be with the Master, the Lord Jesus," he said, and he described a vocation as a gift that does not depend on personal merit.

Fraternity, formators and mission in the community

The pope said the path toward God can be hard, and that the climb can be tiring and discouraging, so fraternity and mutual support among seminarians matter. "No seminarian can conceive of a private journey with the Lord," he said, describing the seminary as a "school of the affections." He asked formators, who accompany that process, to carry out their work with "knowledge, patience and love."

He closed by speaking about "coming down the mountain" to bring the message of Christ to those who need it. "You will be called to communicate this newness of life to the world," he told the seminarians. He addressed the future priests of the Pontificio Seminario Regionale Pugliese "Pio XI" in Molfetta and of the Diocesan Seminary of Aversa, both in southern Italy. He urged them to commit themselves to families in difficulty, young people looking for work, elderly people living alone and the marginalized in their communities.

"The priest is sent to everyone to proclaim the beauty of faith in Jesus Christ, the good news of our salvation," the pope said. Pastoral work must also reach those who have lost a sense of meaning in their lives, he said, and he called on the seminarians to be a beacon of hope and support in their own communities. The priesthood is not a private vocation, he said, but a call to serve the concrete needs of the most vulnerable.

Thanks to families and formators

Before ending his address, the pope thanked the seminarians for their "yes" to their vocation, saying that such a commitment is not easy in the world today. "It is not something to be taken for granted, and the Church knows this well," he said. He also thanked the formators and the seminarians' families: "a vocation is never born without a suitable context, and it often needs a home, parents who pray and who know how to let go."

A vocation does not arise in a vacuum, he said, but needs a family setting where faith, prayer and the freedom to choose consecration are cultivated. The families' support is essential if their children's vocations are to develop fully, he said, and he thanked everyone for their contribution to the mission of the Church.