Krzysztof Bronk – Vatican
It’s not a profession, but a calling
The Holy Father admitted that being a soldier is not just a profession. It is a calling, a response to a call that speaks to the conscience. “The identity of a soldier,” said Leo XIV, “is shaped by magnanimity, a spirit of service, high aspirations, and deep feelings. But these values require a foundation, a gift of grace capable of fostering love even to total self-sacrifice. Therefore, the codes, norms, and missions of military life should be inspired by the Gospel, so that in the service of security and peace, the common good of nations always comes first.”
Avert danger in advance
Leo XIV also quoted the words that St. John Paul II addressed to soldiers in 2000 on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Military and Police: “You are called to defend the weak, protect the honest, and support the peaceful coexistence of nations. Each of you plays the role of a ‘guardian’ who must strain their eyes to avert danger in advance and promote justice and peace everywhere.”
A soldier’s service is an act of love
The Pope also referred to the teaching of Paul VI, who claimed that history is not a reality to be merely endured, but a space of grace in which a civilization of love can be built. Leo XIV assured that the service of soldiers is also “an act of love – towards the country, territories, and above all towards people – which translates into concrete closeness, especially in places and circumstances where weaknesses are greatest.”
Heroic ministry of chaplains
The Holy Father also drew attention to the importance of the ministry of military chaplains. It manifests itself in the witness of life, the proclamation of the Gospel, the administration of the sacraments, listening and accompanying, in times of peace and during conflicts, in bases and during military operations, in chapels and field tents. Leo XIV recalled that many chaplains fulfilled their mission heroically, “even to martyrdom.”
A society without memory
The occasion for today’s audience is the centenary of the military ordinariate in Italy. On this occasion, the Pope recalled the importance of historical memory. We live in a society that is in danger of losing its memory.
Memory is not data accumulation, but awareness
“Our era,” said Leo XIV, “has an extraordinary ability to transmit information, but an increasingly weaker ability to assimilate it. Memory is often ‘external’ and accessible, but not always assimilated and activated. For the Church, however, it is a living awareness: not an accumulation of data, but a continuous call to responsibility; not nostalgia, but a root that gives rise to prophecy. For Christians, memory has a unique character: it is the celebration of God who enters history, because Christian faith is based on a historical fact, and salvation is not an idea, but the living person of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
100th anniversary of the Field Ordinariate in Italy
The Pope noted that the Field Ordinariate in Italy is also a concrete history, made up of men and women in uniform who, in the bright days of peace and the dramatic circumstances of war, with dedication, courage, and commitment, contributed to the development of Italian society, sometimes at the cost of their own lives.
