To hope is to connect. Irenaeus of Lyon

In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Peace be with you!

Dear brothers and sisters,

This morning we will resume the special Jubilee audiences that Pope Francis had begun in the month of January, proposing each time a particular aspect of the theological virtue of hope and a spiritual figure who bore witness to it. Let us therefore continue the journey we started, as pilgrims of hope!

We are brought together by the hope transmitted by the Apostles ever since the beginning. The Apostles saw in Jesus the earth bound to heaven: with their eyes, ears and hands they welcomed the Word of life. The Jubilee is an open door to this mystery. The Jubilee year connects God’s world more radically to our own. It invites us to take seriously what we pray every day: “On earth as it is in heaven”. This is our hope. Here is the aspect we would like to explore today: to hope is to connect.

One of the greatest Christian theologians, Bishop Irenaeus of Lyon, will help us to understand how beautiful and relevant this hope is. Irenaeus was born in Asia Minor and was formed among those who had known the Apostles personally. He then came to Europe, because a community of Christians from his own land had already formed there. How good it is for us to remember this here, in Rome, in Europe! The Gospel was brought to this continent from outside. And even today, migrant communities are a presence that revives the faith in the countries that welcome them. The Gospel comes from outside. Irenaeus connects East and West. This is already a sign of hope, for it reminds us how peoples continue to enrich one another.

Irenaeus, however, had an even greater treasure to give to us. The doctrinal divisions he encountered within the Christian community, the internal conflicts and external persecutions, did not discourage him. On the contrary, in a fragmented world he learned how to think better, bringing his attention ever more deeply to Jesus. He became a cantor of his person, indeed of his flesh. Indeed, he recognized that in him, what seems to conflict is reconciled in unity. Jesus is not a wall that separates, but a door that unites us. We have to remain in him and distinguish reality from ideologies.

Dear brothers and sisters, today too ideas can run wild and words can kill. Instead, the flesh is what we are all made of; it is what links us to the earth and to other creatures. The flesh of Jesus has to be welcomed and contemplated in every brother and sister, in every creature. Let us listen to the cry of the flesh, let us hear ourselves called by name by the suffering of others. The commandment we received from the beginning is mutual love. It is inscribed in our flesh, before any other law.

Irenaeus, teacher of unity, teaches us not to oppose, but to connect. There is intelligence not where there is separation, but where there is connection. To distinguish is useful, but to divide, never. Jesus is the eternal life in our midst: he brings opposites together and makes communion possible.

We are pilgrims of hope, because among people, populations and creatures, we need someone who decides to move towards communion. Others will follow. Like Irenaeus in Lyon in the second century, so in each of our cities let us return to building bridges where today there are walls. Let us open doors, connect worlds, and there will be hope.

__________________

Special Greetings:

I offer a warm greeting to all of you who are taking part in the Jubilee of Sport and in this international gathering on “The Momentum of Hope,” sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture and Education. The time you spend together in these days will offer you a valuable opportunity to think about the relationship between athletic activity and the virtue of hope. When we think of it, sports are animated by hope, in the sense that they involve striving towards a goal, constantly trying to improve our performance and learning to work with others as a team. At the same time, our deepest hopes challenge us to make the world of sports an arena where authentically human and Christian values can be exercised and communicated to others for the building of a better world.

In the spirit of this Jubilee, then, I encourage you, and also the participants in the International Motorbike Rally, each in your own way, to be “missionaries of hope,” working to bring about a culture of ever greater solidarity, acceptance and fraternity. To all of you I cordially impart my Blessing.

I extend a warm welcome to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially those coming from Ireland, Vietnam and the United States of America. In praying that you may experience an increase in the virtue of hope during this Jubilee Year, I invoke upon all of you, and upon your families, the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!

***

APPEAL

Indeed, during these days too, news is coming in that causes much concern. The situation in Iran and Israel has deteriorated gravely, and in such a delicate moment, I would like to renew strongly an appeal to responsibility and reason. The commitment to creating a safer world, free from the nuclear threat, should be pursued through respectful encounter and sincere dialogue, to build a lasting peace, based on justice, fraternity and the common good. No-one should ever threaten the existence of another. It is the duty of all countries to support the cause of peace, undertaking paths of reconciliation and promoting solutions that guarantee safety and dignity for all.

_________________

Summary of the Holy Father's words:

Dear brothers and sisters:

This morning we take up the series of catecheses on the Jubilee theme of hope begun by Pope Francis earlier this year. Like Jesus himself, God and man, the evangelical virtue of hope connects heaven and earth, our world and the kingdom of heaven. We see this reflected in the life of Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, a great bishop and theologian of the second century. Irenaeus was born in Asia Minor, nurtured in its apostolic traditions, and migrated to Europe as a missionary of the Gospel. His ministry was above all one of unity, grounded in the person of Jesus himself, true God and true man. By taking on our flesh, Jesus united us to one another, reconciling divisions and charging us to acknowledge him in all our brothers and sisters, especially the poor and those in need. Inspired by this teaching of Saint Irenaeus, may we work together for unity in our communities, opening doors and building bridges in place of walls. In this way, as pilgrims of hope, may we bear living witness to the Gospel message of unity, reconciliation and peace in Christ.

_________________

L'Osservatore Romano, Monthly Edition in English, Fifty-eighth year, number 7-8, July- August 2025, p. 47-48