Pope Leo XIV Highlights Hermits’ Contemplative Witness | JQJO

Meeting Italian hermits on 11 October in the Consistory Hall, Pope Leo XIV urged a renewed 'call to interiority and silence' in an age of media-driven alienation. The hermit vocation, he said, shows the beauty of contemplation—not escape, but regeneration that fuels listening and charity. Thanking them for their presence after the 8–9 October Jubilee of Consecrated Life, he highlighted their witness in remote parishes and anonymous cities. He invited creative openness to seekers, vigilance of heart, and prayerful solitude that cultivates communion, exhorting them to 'stand in the breach' as the Church sails the stormy sea of history.