The following is the letter sent by the Holy Father Leo XIV to the Presbytery of the Archdiocese of Madrid on the occasion of the “Convivium” Presbyteral Assembly (9-10 February 2026):

Letter of the Holy Father

Dear sons,

I am delighted to be able to address this letter to you on the occasion of your Presbyteral Assembly, and to do so with sincere wishes for fraternity and unity. I thank your Archbishop and, from the bottom of my heart, each one of you for your willingness to gather as a presbytery, not only to discuss common issues, but also to support one another in the mission you share.

I appreciate the commitment with which you live and exercise your priesthood in parishes, services and very diverse realities; I know that this ministry is often carried out amid fatigue, complex situations and a silent dedication that only God witnesses. Precisely for this reason, I hope that these words will reach you as a gesture of closeness and encouragement, and that this meeting will foster a climate of sincere listening, true communion and confident openness to the action of the Holy Spirit, who never ceases to work in your lives and in your mission.

The times in which the Church is living invite us to pause together in serene and honest reflection. Not so much to dwell on immediate diagnoses or the management of emergencies, but to learn to read in depth the moment in which we live, recognizing, in the light of faith, the challenges and also the possibilities that the Lord opens up before us. On this journey, it becomes increasingly necessary to educate our outlook and to exercise discernment, so that we can perceive more clearly what God is already doing, often silently and discreetly, in our midst and in our communities.

This interpretation of the present cannot ignore the cultural and social context in which faith is lived and expressed today. In many environments, we see advanced processes of secularization, a growing polarization in public discourse and a tendency to reduce the complexity of the human person, interpreting it on the basis of partial and insufficient ideologies and categories. In this context, faith runs the risk of being instrumentalized, trivialized or relegated to the realm of the irrelevant, while forms of coexistence that dispense with any transcendent reference become entrenched.

Added to this is a profound cultural change that cannot be ignored: the gradual disappearance of common points of reference. For a long time, the Christian seed found fertile ground, because moral language, the major questions about the meaning of life and certain fundamental notions were, at least in part, shared. Today, that common ground has been significantly weakened. Many of the conceptual assumptions that for centuries facilitated the transmission of the Christian message are no longer evident and, in many cases, are no longer even comprehensible. The Gospel is met not only with indifference, but with a different cultural horizon, in which words no longer mean the same thing and where the first proclamation cannot be taken for granted.

However, this description does not fully capture what is really happening. I am convinced – and I know that many of you perceive this in the daily exercise of your ministry – that in the hearts of many people, especially young people, a new restlessness is opening up today. The absolutization of well-being has not brought the expected happiness; freedom detached from truth has not generated the promised fulfilment; and material progress, on its own, has not managed to satisfy the deep desire of the human heart.

In fact, the dominant proposals, together with certain hermeneutical and philosophical interpretations of man’s destiny, far from offering a sufficient answer, have often left a greater sense of weariness and emptiness. Precisely for this reason, we see that many people are beginning to open themselves to a more honest and authentic search, a search that, accompanied by patience and respect, is leading them back to an encounter with Christ. This reminds us that for the priest, this is not a time for withdrawal or resignation, but for faithful presence and generous availability. All of this stems from the recognition that the initiative always comes from the Lord, who is already at work and precedes us with his grace.

So we can see what kind of priests Madrid – and the Church as a whole – needs at this time. Certainly not men defined by the multiplication of tasks or the pressure to obtain results, but men configured to Christ, capable of sustaining their ministry from a living relationship with Him, nourished by the Eucharist and expressed in a pastoral charity marked by the sincere gift of self. It is not a question of inventing new models or redefining the identity we have received, but of re-proposing, with renewed intensity, the priesthood in its most authentic core – being alter Christus – allowing Him to shape our lives, unify our hearts and give form to a ministry lived in intimacy with God, faithful dedication to the Church, and tangible service to the people entrusted to us.

Dear sons, allow me today to speak to you about the priesthood using an image that is very familiar to you: your Cathedral. Not to describe a building, but to learn from it. Because cathedrals – like any sacred place – exist, like the priesthood, to lead us to an encounter with God and reconciliation with our brothers and sisters, and their elements contain a lesson for our life and ministry.

When we contemplate its façade, we already learn something essential. It is the first thing we see, and yet it does not say everything: it indicates, suggests, invites. So too, the priest does not live to display himself, but neither does he live to hide himself. His life is called to be visible, consistent and recognizable, even if it is not always understood. The façade does not exist for itself: it leads to the interior. In the same way, the priest is never an end in himself. His whole life is called to refer to God and to accompany the passage towards the Mystery, without usurping its place.

When we reach the threshold, we understand that not everything should enter inside, for it is a sacred space. The threshold marks a passage, a necessary separation. Before entering, something remains outside. The priesthood is also lived in this way: being in the world, but not of the world (cf. Jn 17:14). At this crossroads lie celibacy, poverty and obedience; not as a denial of life, but as the practical way that enables the priest to belong entirely to God without ceasing to walk among men.

The cathedral is also a common home, where everyone has a place. This is what the Church is called to be, especially for her priests: a home that welcomes, protects and does not abandon. And this is how priestly fraternity should be lived: as the concrete experience of knowing that we are at home, responsible for one another, attentive to the life of our brother and ready to support one another. My children, no one should feel exposed or alone in the exercise of their ministry: resist together the individualism that impoverishes the heart and weakens the mission!

As we walk through the temple, we notice that everything rests on the columns that support the entire structure. The Church has seen in them the image of the Apostles (cf. Eph 2:20). Nor does the priestly life sustain itself, but rather it is sustained by the apostolic witness received and transmitted in the living Tradition of the Church and safeguarded by the Magisterium (cf. 1 Cor 11:2; 2 Tim 1:13-14). When the priest remains anchored to this foundation, he avoids building on the sand of partial interpretations or circumstantial emphases, and relies on the firm rock that goes before him and surpasses him (cf. Mt 7:24-27).

Before we reach the presbytery, the cathedral shows us discreet but fundamental places: in the baptismal font the People of God are born; in the confessional they are continually regenerated. In the sacraments, grace is revealed as the truest and most effective force of the priestly ministry. Therefore, dear sons, celebrate the sacraments with dignity and faith, being aware that what is produced in them is the true force that builds up the Church and that they are the ultimate goal to which our entire ministry is ordered. But do not forget that you are not the source, but the channel, and that you also need to drink from that water. Therefore, do not fail to go to confession, to always return to the mercy that you proclaim.

Various chapels open onto the central space. Each one has its own history and dedication. Although they differ in art and composition, they all share the same orientation; none is turned in on itself, none breaks the harmony of the whole. This is also true in the Church with the different charisms and spiritualities through which the Lord enriches and sustains your vocation. Each one receives a particular way of expressing faith and nourishing interiority, but all remain oriented towards the same centre.

Let us look at the centre of everything, my sons: here is revealed what gives meaning to what you do every day and where your ministry springs from. On the altar, through your hands, Christ’s sacrifice is made present in the highest action entrusted to human hands; in the tabernacle, He whom you have offered dwells, entrusted once again to your care. Be worshippers, men of deep prayer, and teach your people to do the same.

At the end of this journey, to be the priests that the Church needs today, I leave you with the same advice as your holy compatriot, Saint John of Avila: “Be wholly his” (Sermon 57). Be saints! I entrust you to Saint Mary of Almudena and, with a heart full of gratitude, I impart my Apostolic Blessing, which I extend to all those entrusted to your pastoral care.

From the Vatican, 28 January 2026, Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church.

LEO PP. XIV