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Pope Leo XIV delivered a homily on May 20, 2025, during his visit to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. During this visit, he prayed before the tomb of St. Paul and reflected on a passage from a letter by St. Paul to the Christians of Rome.
The Pope emphasized three themes: grace, faith, and justification. He said that St. Paul recognized his vocation as a result of God's love, which called him to a new life despite being distant from the Gospel initially. Quoting St. Augustine, Pope Leo noted, “How can we choose, unless we have first been chosen? We cannot love unless someone has loved us first.”
St. Paul's experience of "the obedience of faith" was also highlighted by Pope Leo, who explained that God gave Paul the freedom to choose an obedience involving both interior and exterior struggles after appearing to him on the road to Damascus.
Pope Leo urged believers to respond to God's grace and become witnesses of love “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” He called for spreading charity and becoming true neighbors while reflecting on how love drove St. Paul from persecution to martyrdom.
Acknowledging the Benedictine community's long-standing care for the basilica, Pope Leo referenced St. Benedict’s appeals for fraternal charity and hospitality in monastic life.
Concluding his homily, Pope Leo quoted Pope Benedict XVI: “Dear friends,” he said, “God loves us. This is the great truth of our life; it is what makes everything else meaningful.” Pope Leo expressed his hope that God grants him the grace to fulfill his mission as Peter's successor faithfully.
