Audience with the members of the Latin Episcopal Conference in the Arab Regions (CELRA) — 2026-09-03

All events of the day›2026-09-03›Audience with the members of the Latin Episcopal Conference in the Arab Regions (CELRA)

🤝 Audience

Audience with the members of the Latin Episcopal Conference in the Arab Regions (CELRA)

📍 Apostolic Palace, Vatican City

Pope Leo XIV receives in audience the members of the Conference of Latin Bishops in the Arab Regions (CELRA), the body that brings together the pastors of the Latin jurisdictions of Israel and Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (the Apostolic Vicariates of Northern and Southern Arabia). In his address the Pope recalls the witness of martyrdom known by those Churches — from Sister Leonella Sgorbati to the religious and faithful killed in Iraq, Syria and Yemen — and urges the bishops not to be afraid of their smallness, because "the fruitfulness of the Church is not measured in numbers, structures or resources, but in fidelity to the Gospel." He asks them to be pastors close to their people, to have particular care for families and young people, and to defend the dignity of migrants, who are numerous especially in the Gulf countries, so that the communities may be "homes in which no one feels a stranger." Finally he calls for sincere dialogue with other Christian communities, with Muslims and with the different religious traditions: "where war has sown mistrust, every gesture of esteem, collaboration and respect can become a step toward reconciliation and peace."

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Holy See Press Office Bulletin of 3 September 2026 — Audience with CELRA

The full text of Pope Leo XIV's address to the members of the Latin Episcopal Conference in the Arab Regions.

📜 Speech text

Address to the members of the Latin Episcopal Conference in the Arab Regions (CELRA) (translated)

Your Beatitude, Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate, dear friends, with great joy I welcome you, Pastors who together form the Conference of Latin Bishops in the Arab Regions. Your Churches have known the witness of martyrdom: we think of Sister Leonella Sgorbati and of the religious and faithful killed in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Your Beatitude, Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate, dear friends, with great joy I welcome you, Pastors who together form the Conference of Latin Bishops in the Arab Regions.

Your Churches have known the witness of martyrdom: we think of Sister Leonella Sgorbati, a Consolata Missionary, and of the religious and faithful killed in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Their fidelity to the Gospel remains a light for your communities.

Do not be afraid of your smallness. The fruitfulness of the Church is not measured in numbers, structures or resources, but in fidelity to the Gospel.

Always be pastors close to your people, able to share its wounds, to listen, to sustain and to console.

In the midst of emergencies, do not lose sight of what is essential in the mission of the Church: the proclamation of the Gospel, prayer, the Sacraments and Christian formation.

Have particular care for families and young people. May families, though burdened by difficulties and uncertainties, with the support of the community remain the first place in which the faith is received and handed on; and may young people, often torn between great aspirations and an uncertain future, find in the Church a home that welcomes them, listens to them and helps them recognize the value of their lives.

Care also for migrants, who are numerous especially in the Gulf countries. May your communities be homes in which no one feels a stranger. Defend the dignity of every person and recognize in every migrant a brother and a sister: in this way charity becomes a witness of the Gospel and a school of fraternity.

Cultivate a sincere dialogue with other Christian communities, with Muslims and with the different religious traditions. In the heart of societies marked by conflict and division, may your communities show that it is possible to live, to serve and to hope together. Where war has sown mistrust, every gesture of esteem, collaboration and respect can become a step toward reconciliation and peace.

No gesture made in the name of Christ is useless: a prayer, a word of consolation, a family accompanied, a child educated in the faith, a poor person welcomed are seeds of a new future. The sowing belongs to you; the growth belongs to God.

I entrust your Churches and your peoples to the protection of the Virgin Mary and I invoke upon you the abundance of the Lord's blessings.

Official source ↗