Meeting with members of the Pro Petri Sede Association, Pope Leo XIV affirms that the Successor of Peter must have the freedom to speak truth, denounce injustice, and defend the weakest.
By Devin Watkins
Pope Leo XIV met on Wednesday with members of the Pro Petri Sede Association, which works to support the Successor of Peter.
He recalled that the association’s members are the distant heirs of the Papal Zouaves, an infantry battalion of young Catholic men who volunteered to assist Pope Pius IX in defending the Papal States.
In his address, the Pope praised the Pro Petri Sede Association for its efforts to support the Apostolic See.
He noted that the socio-historical situation has changed since the mid-19th century and that there is “no question of fighting with weapons or exercising any violence whatsoever” to defend the freedom of the Roman Pontiff.
Even Pope Pius IX, he said, carried out a prophetic gesture by refusing to let blood be shed in Rome when the Italian Risorgimento troops took the city in September 1870.
However, said the Pope, the proclamation of the Kingdom of God is still hindered in many places and ways, adding that the association’s mission remains relevant today.
The Bishop of Rome, he affirmed, has received the mission to gather the faithful in unity and to proclaim the Gospel of salvation.
“How important it is,” he said, “in the troubled times in which we live, that ‘Peter’ keep his total freedom to speak the truth, denounce injustice, defend the rights of the weakest, promote peace, and above all to proclaim Jesus Christ who died and rose again, the only possible horizon for a reconciled humanity.”
Pope Leo XIV went on to thank the Pro Petri Sede Association for their prayers and charitable activities on behalf of the poor.
He expressed special gratitude for the association’s financial support for a work of charity of his former Diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru.
“The establishment of a training center for those most in need, will be of great usefulness and will allow me, although separated by distance, to remain close to all these people through thought and charity,” he said.
In conclusion, Pope Leo upheld the power of prayer in supporting the work of the Pope and the Holy See, and entrusted the members of the Pro Petri Sede Association to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
