Above: Pope Leo XIV delivers his remarks during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican May 6, 2026. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV continued his reflections on the Second Vatican Council on May 6, telling pilgrims the Church should always live with its focus on heaven, even as it serves in the world.
At his weekly general audience, the pope highlighted the teaching of Lumen gentium that “the Church journeys through this earthly history always looking towards her final destination, which is the heavenly homeland.”
He said Catholics can sometimes become too focused on what is visible and immediate, losing sight of the bigger picture of God’s plan.
“The Church is God’s people journeying through history,” he said, reminding the faithful that Jesus founded it by proclaiming “a Kingdom of love, justice and peace.”
Because of that, he said, believers are called “to turn our eyes to this final horizon, to measure and evaluate everything from this perspective.”
Pope Leo explained that the Church carries out its mission by preaching the Gospel, celebrating the sacraments — especially the Eucharist — and living out love and service in daily life. At the same time, he stressed that the Church is not the end goal itself.
Quoting the council, he said, “The Church is the ‘universal sacrament of salvation,’” but added that it “does not identify perfectly with the Kingdom of God, but is its seed and beginning.”
The pope described Christian life as lived between what he called the “already” and the “not yet.”
“The Church realizes her mission between the ‘already’ of the beginning of the Kingdom of God in Jesus, and the ‘not yet’ of the promised fulfillment,” he said.
Because of this, he said, Christians can face the world’s struggles without losing hope. They move forward “without being either deluded or despairing,” trusting in God’s promise to “make all things new.”
That hope, he said, must lead to action, especially in defending human dignity.
The Church has “the mission of speaking clearly to reject everything that mortifies life,” he said, and must stand with “the poor, the exploited, the victims of violence and war, and all those who suffer in body and in spirit.”
Pope Leo also called for humility within the Church, noting that its structures are not perfect and must continually be renewed.
“No ecclesial institution can be treated as absolute,” he said, adding that they are “called to continual conversion, to the renewal of forms and the reform of structures.”
Finally, he reminded the faithful that the Church includes both the living and the dead, united in what Catholic teaching calls the communion of saints.
“All Christians form a single Church,” he said, noting that in prayer and the liturgy, believers join with those who have gone before them “to praise and give glory to the Most Holy Trinity.”
He closed by encouraging Catholics to keep this broader vision in mind, calling it “a most important and beautiful aspect of being Christian.”
Read the full text of Pope Leo's teaching at the May 6 General Audience.