His Holiness Pope Leo XIV: Young people need easy access to Sacred Scripture

His Holiness Pope Leo XIV kisses the Book of the Gospels as he begins Rome's Diocesan Assembly at St. John Lateran on September 19, 2025  (@Vatican Media)

Meeting with the Catholic Biblical Federation, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV encourages Biblical Scholars and Pastoral Ministers to make the Word of God easily accessible to all people, especially in digital spaces so that younger generations can encounter Christ.

By Devin Watkins

His Holiness Pope Leo XIV met on Monday with the members of the Catholic Biblical Federation, expressing his gratitude for their service to the Word of God.

He reflected on the 60th anniversary of Dei Verbum, the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, and the Second Vatican Council’s call for Sacred Scripture to be easily accessible and glorified everywhere.

The Pope said the document conveys “a strong desire, a firm conviction, and a pastoral approach”.

“The teaching of Dei Verbum is unequivocal,” he said. “We are called ‘to hear the Word of God with reverence and to proclaim it with faith,’ and ‘easy access to Sacred Scripture should be provided for all the Christian faithful’.”

The Catholic Biblical Federation shares that same goal, noted the Pope, as it seeks to make the Word of God a key part of pastoral ministry and offer it as a source of dynamic inspiration for the Church.

Pope Leo invited the biblical scholars gathered in Rome to renew their fidelity to their mandate, which he said is “nothing less than the proclamation of the kerygma, the saving mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Church, he added, always draws her life from the Gospel by listening with attentive love to Christ.

“From the Gospel, she continually rediscovers the direction for her journey, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who teaches all things and reminds us of everything the Son has said.”

His Holiness Pope Leo XIV then reflected on what the term “easy access” to Sacred Scripture means in our own time.

He noted that the faithful must be encouraged to read the Bible, so as to personally encounter the love of God expressed in human words.

“Today, new generations inhabit new digital environments where the Word of God is easily overshadowed,” he said. “New communities often find themselves in cultural spaces where the Gospel is unfamiliar or distorted by particular interests”…

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