Pope Leo XIV has called on the Catholic Church to help people recover a sense of life’s deepest questions, warning that economic pressures and the manipulation of information can push society towards a culture increasingly defined by material consumption.
Speaking during the General Audience in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, the Pope continued his catechetical series on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, focusing on the fourth chapter of the first part of Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.
Leo XIV placed the Church firmly within the realities of contemporary society, stressing that it is neither detached from the world nor positioned above it. Drawing on the teaching of the Council, he described the Church as living and working within the world, sharing in its human experiences while pointing towards the Christian understanding of humanity’s ultimate destiny.
At the heart of his catechesis was what he described as the Church’s “first mission”: helping people remain attentive to the profound questions that concern human existence.
These include questions about where human beings come from, where they are going, and what love and suffering mean.
For Leo XIV, such questions cannot be pushed aside by the demands and distractions of contemporary life. He presented them as essential to understanding what it means to be human.
The Pope also drew attention to economic and informational forces that can influence how people live and what they value.
He warned that a “logic of profit at all costs” and the manipulation of information can place pressure on individuals to conform to a lifestyle focused on the consumption of material goods.
Against that tendency, Leo XIV offered a distinctly spiritual understanding of human desire, saying that “our hearts are made to look upwards.”
The Pope’s comments connected the Church’s spiritual mission with its responsibility towards society. He said that the Church’s contribution to the construction of the earthly city is not primarily political. Rather, Christians are called to contribute through faith and charity, while working for justice, peace and fraternity.
That social responsibility, he said, cannot be separated from concern for people who are vulnerable to exploitation or injustice.
