Pope Leo XIV urges Dominican religious to abandon a survival-only mindset

Pope Leo XIV met with the International Commission of Dominican Religious Sisters at the Vatican on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, calling on the sisters to move beyond a mindset focused solely on survival. He addressed the challenges facing aging communities, declining numbers, and labor shortages, describing the situation as a burning fire that creates economic and property management problems. The Pope emphasized that instead of being lured by a survival-only mentality that separates efforts and resources, the sisters should listen for God's voice and respond to God's call in peace and silence. He pointed to the tradition of the two great Dominican thinkers, Saints Thomas Aquinas and Dominic, who taught that every true word of preaching must begin in silence.

Pope Leo XIV referenced his predecessor Pope Francis, who described personal prayer as the breath of the relationship with God, calling it a silent stillness in which the promise of God is welcomed and the self is transformed. This stillness, he said, allows deeper knowledge of things and people so that what has been experienced and understood can be shared with others. The Pope urged the sisters to ensure their communities are always, first and foremost, moments of union with the Lord through prayer, listening to one another, fostering brotherhood, and building communion. He highlighted silence as an essential quality of contemplative life, explaining that silence is an act of will in which a person is fully engaged and which builds strong relationships because it is inspired by the promise of God.

He called for creating spaces of freedom and truth, remaining sensitive to those whose voices go unheard, and growing in wisdom and gentleness. Pope Leo XIV concluded by telling the sisters that their service to the Church is precious and should be continued with trust, mutual understanding, and wisdom, remaining united but not uniform, faithful to tradition yet open to new things, and embracing contemplation because they are capable of bringing the world before God.