Lent 2026
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Leo XIV called on Catholics to spread “honesty” and “gentleness” while celebrating Mass at the parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia on the afternoon of February 15, 2026. By visiting this church located on the Tyrrhenian coast, the Pope began a series of visits he will make to the five sectors of his Diocese of Rome on the Sundays of Lent.
During this first parish visit of his pontificate, the Pope met with some 400 children and young people on the church grounds. “You are the hope!” he told them in a brief speech. And he assured them: “Deep in your hearts, in your lives and in your youth, there is hope, for today and for tomorrow.”
The pontiff then met with the same number of elderly, sick, and disadvantaged people in the gymnasium. “Everyone's life has great value: whether I am young or old, whether I have difficulties or not, human life is a gift from God,” he told them, urging them to say “yes to the Lord.”
After these meetings with the faithful, he went to the church to celebrate Mass. [See photo gallery at the end of the article.]
In his homily, Leo XIV invited the parishioners of Ostia to proclaim the Gospel “with generosity and courage” in this neighborhood facing social difficulties. He mentioned violence, particularly among teenagers, drug use, and criminal organizations “that exploit people by involving them in their crimes and pursue unjust interests through illegal and immoral methods.”
In recent months, the Italian press has reported on infrastructure deficiencies and delinquency in this coastal suburb of the Italian capital.
Thinking badly of others is already killing
“Do not resign yourselves to the culture of abuse and injustice,” the Pontiff told the assembly that filled the church and spilled out onto the forecourt, where the celebration was broadcast on a screen. Calling above all for “disarming language,” he recommended that the parish invest in the education of children and young people, to teach them “honesty, hospitality, and love that transcends boundaries.”
Noting the Gospel reading, the head of the Catholic Church asked the people of Ostia to pay attention first and foremost to their hearts, “even before their actions and words.” He added: “It is there, in fact, that the noblest feelings are born, but also the most painful profanations: closed-mindedness, envy, jealousy.” He urged refraining “from judging others and despising them” because thinking “evil of one's brother, harboring bad feelings toward him,” is already tantamount to “killing him within oneself," as Jesus said.
The Bishop of Rome also urged us “not only to help those who repay us and greet only those who greet us, but to reach out to everyone freely and generously,” in order to be an inspiring example to those who are “slaves to evil.” Only God “frees the heart and makes us truly happy,” he promised.
The mission of peace in this coastal parish
In his meditation, Leo XIV recalled the history of this church, which was commissioned by Benedict XV during the First World War. Consecrated in 1928, the building is dedicated to the “Queen of Peace” and the local community was born as “a ray of light in the dark sky of war,” he emphasized.
In the same vein today, the 267th pope encouraged parishioners to practice “the disarming power of gentleness” and “respect and care for others in their inviolable sacredness.” He pointed to “the supremacy of the strongest, [...] the seduction of victory at any cost,” and the refusal to listen to “the cries of those who suffer and those who are defenseless” in today's world.
In his homily, the Pope also quoted his spiritual master St. Augustine, as a nod to this area where the 5th-century bishop received a spiritual vision that was decisive for his faith, and where his mother, St. Monica, lived and died. The church also houses an altar dedicated to St. Augustine, patron saint of this district of Rome. Before Mass, Leo XIV rejoiced in the “Augustinian roots” of the parish.
“Don't stay inside the church”
During his meeting with the Pastoral Council during this visit, Leo XIV expressed his hope that the parish “would be a place where people could come and find a listening ear.” He encouraged them to keep “the church open” and to “offer activities for young people.”
Like his predecessor Pope Francis, the pontiff also urged them to “go outside, seek out other people,” and to “invite, welcome, and accompany.”
“Don't stay inside the church saying, ‘Those who come are enough.’ It's never enough,” said the former missionary to Peru.
