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VATICAN CITY (CNS) \u2014 Everyone needs to feel there is room for them in their bishop\u2019s heart, Pope Leo XIV said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLove the people that the Lord has entrusted to you\u201d and boldly bring the Good News of salvation to everyone, the pope told about 147 bishops from five continents attending a course for bishops ordained in the past year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe live in an era of rapid change,\u201d the pope told them Sept. 10 in the Vatican Synod Hall. \u201cAdvances in communication technologies and artificial intelligence have opened up possibilities,\u201d but \u201cthey certainly cannot free humanity from sin and its consequences: the crises we are currently facing tragically demonstrate this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the Church celebrated the Jubilee of Hope last year, not because she \u201clives apart from the world\u201d but because \u201cshe is sent by Christ, who died and rose again, to proclaim the Gospel of salvation to all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe bishops are the first recipients of this mandate,\u201d Pope Leo, who, as pope, is also the Bishop of Rome, said, and his encyclical \u201cMagnifica Humanitas<\/a>\u201d is meant to be \u201ca vision and a method for addressing the great challenge of safeguarding humanity in the age of artificial intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI encourage you to promote paths of reflection and dialogue in your dioceses, to form and support those who wish to commit themselves to the service of the civilization of love,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Pope Leo told the new bishops that their week of meetings and talks with one another and Vatican officials should help them understand that \u201cno bishop walks alone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKnow that you are in my prayers, along with your churches: the priests, deacons, men and women in consecrated life, seminarians, families, young people, the elderly, the poor, those who suffer, and those who are still waiting to encounter the joy of the Gospel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone must find a place in the bishop\u2019s heart,\u201d he said, because Christ already has a place in his heart for everyone.<\/p>\n Reflecting on the theme of bishops as servants of communion in the Church and in today\u2019s world, Pope Leo told them that their most important responsibility is to \u201cremain with Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are bishops, but we are first and foremost disciples. To speak of Him, we need to be with Him; to lead His people, we must allow ourselves to be guided by Him every day, every single day,\u201d he said. \u201cLet us never forget this.\u201d<\/p>\n Also, the pope said, cherish that time of being with the Lord in the Eucharist, the Word of God, prayer and during any moment \u201cwhen you can be in His presence with the simple heart of a disciple who allows himself to be loved by his Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur ministry springs from there. And when the heart remains close to Him, our service also becomes more serene, more free and more fruitful,\u201d Pope Leo said.<\/p>\n Jesus said the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, the pope said. What that means for a bishop is \u201cto learn more and more each day to love his people: to know their joys and sorrows, to share in their dreams and to rejoice in seeing their communities grow.\u201d<\/p>\n By meeting and ministering to everyone, he said, \u201cyou will discover more and more how beautiful the people of God are.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLearn their names, listen to their stories, visit their homes whenever you can, and pray with them. Especially in young churches, the bishop\u2019s presence often speaks volumes, even before his words,\u201d he said. \u201cA visit, a blessing, time spent with a priest, listening to a family, a conversation with a young person: these are small gestures, but they can remain in a person\u2019s heart for a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEpiscopal fatherhood,\u201d Pope Leo said, is \u201chaving a heart large enough to make room for everyone, carrying one\u2019s children within oneself and presenting them to the Lord in prayer every day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur preaching is an act of love, as are listening, prayer, discernment, the time we give to people and our very presence,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is pastoral charity that allows Christ the Shepherd to reach the people He loves through our humble selves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMay people feel, through our presence, something of God\u2019s tenderness and fatherhood!\u201d the pope said.<\/p>\n \u201cDear brothers, as you return to your churches, take this certainty with you: the Lord, who has called you, is faithful,\u201d Pope Leo said. \u201cHe will go before you on the road, accompany you on your journey, and, through the gift of his Holy Spirit, enlighten you every day. And may Mary, Mother of the Church, always watch over you and the people entrusted to your care.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>