TO THE COMMUNITY OF THE
PONTIFICAL ECCLESIASTICAL ACADEMY

On the occasion of the 325th anniversary of its founding, together with you, I give thanks to the Lord for the long and fruitful history of this distinguished Institution placed at the service of the Successor of Peter.

In 1701, at the behest of Pope Clement XI, a most meritorious mission was launched, whose spirit many of my predecessors have preserved and whose growth they have guided, accompanying its development in light of the needs that the Church and diplomacy have manifested over the centuries. In more recent years, Pope Francis, with the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, confirmed the Academy's place within the structure of the Secretariat of State, connecting it with the Section for Diplomatic Staff of the Holy See; then, with the Chirograph The Petrine Ministry of 25 March 2025, he qualified it as an advanced centre of higher academic formation and research in the Diplomatic Sciences, as a direct tool of the diplomatic action of the Holy See.

These latest reforms manifest the aim to offer a formative curriculum that, with a solid scientific base, is able to integrate legal, historical, political, economic and linguistic skills and to combine them with the human and priestly gifts of young presbyters. I thank the Superiors and the Students of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy for the journey of communion and renewal, undertaken with a spirit of faith and willingness, welcoming changes without forgetting their roots.

I hope that this auspicious anniversary will inspire in the students a renewed commitment to persevere in their formation, remembering that the diplomatic service is not a profession but a pastoral vocation: it is the evangelical art of encounter, which seeks paths of reconciliation where men raise walls and mistrust. Indeed, our diplomacy is born of the Gospel: it consists not of tactics, but of thoughtful charity; it seeks neither winners nor losers, it does not build barriers, but rebuilds authentic bonds.

To build this communion, every word spoken must be preceded by listening: listening to God and listening to the little ones, to those whose voices are often not heard. The Pope's diplomats are called to be bridges: invisible bridges to support, solid bridges when events seem difficult to contain, and bridges of hope when goodness falters.

Imitating Saint Anthony the Abbot, your patron, who knew how to transform the silence of the desert into fruitful dialogue with God, be priests of deep spirituality, to draw from prayer the strength of the encounter with others. And as your gaze opens to the mission that awaits you, I entrust each of you to Mary, Mother of the Church, that she may watch over you and make you docile to God's will in your service to the See of Peter.

With these wishes, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and to all those taking part in this significant anniversary.

From the Vatican, 21 November 2025

LEO PP. XIV

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Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 17 January 2025