Pope Urges Benedictine Monks to ‘Reform, Renew, and Simplify’ Christian Life

Vatican City, June 28, 2025 : Pope Leo XIV has urged the monks of the Vallumbrosan Congregation of the Order of St. Benedict to embrace their original mission of reform, renewal, and simplicity in Christian life, which he said “still has the power to widen the horizons and deepen the breath of every human existence.”

Speaking during an audience at the Apostolic Palace, the Pope connected his message to the ongoing renewal of the Church set in motion by the Second Vatican Council, which he said calls for “overcoming self-referentiality, being poorer and in deeper communion with the poor, and intensifying bonds of communion.”

Founded in 1039 by St. John Gualbert and based in Vallombrosa, Tuscany, the Vallumbrosan Congregation follows the Rule of Saint Benedict and is recognised for its dedication to evangelical poverty and charitable works.

At the beginning of the audience, Pope Leo XIV thanked the monks “for the gift that your monastic life represents, reminding the whole Church of the primacy of God as the source of joy and the root of personal and social transformation.” He recalled St. John Gualbert’s decision to seek “a more authentic way of life,” and noted that today, “we once again find ourselves at the dawn of a new millennium, in which, amid many fears, the world seems to be undergoing a profound reshaping.”

He stressed that the Church must not abandon the challenges of the modern world but instead “inhabit them with the depth of those who know how to be silent and listen to the Word of God, so that it might be brought to light within a changing culture.”

Acknowledging current struggles faced by religious communities, the Pope said, “The fragility of those early beginnings can both inspire and console us in our current fragilities. We are often less strong than in the past, less youthful and numerous, at times wounded by human limitations and errors, but the Gospel, received sine glossa—without gloss or compromise—will never cease to spread the fragrance of its beauty.”

“Let nothing hold you back,” he urged the monks, “from the original call to reform, to renew, and to simplify, for the good of all, that Christian life which still has the power to widen the horizons and breath of human existence.”

He also recalled how, in 1973, St. Paul VI affirmed “the continuing relevance of those early days,” highlighting that “the renewal of religious orders, and more generally the aggiornamento of the Church—among both clergy and laity—are among the most vital and compelling themes of the Council and its aftermath.”

Pope Leo XIV noted that Pope Francis has tirelessly encouraged the Church to continue this renewal and urged the monks to maintain “communion with the other Congregations of the sons and daughters of St. Benedict” to stay faithful to their Rule while engaging with today’s world.

Courtesy: Vatican News