Ashley Noronha joined John Morales on Morning Air to reflect on Pope Leo XIV’s Wednesday General Audience from January 7, where the Holy Father framed the beginning of the new year as the start of a renewed journey for Catholics throughout the world. The Pope directed the Church’s attention back to a defining moment of the twentieth century, announcing a fresh rereading of the documents of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Leo presented this renewed engagement with Vatican II as an exciting invitation. He emphasized that the Council is not a closed chapter of history but a great grace entrusted to the Church, one that continues to offer light, wisdom, and prophetic guidance for every generation. In doing so, the Holy Father underscored that the Church does not move forward by abandoning her roots, but by drawing more deeply from them with faith and discernment.
The Pope noted that nearly seventy years have passed since the Council fathers first promulgated these documents. Many of the Catholics who lived through that moment, who received the Council’s teachings firsthand, are no longer with us. This reality, he explained, makes a renewed reading not only timely but necessary. Each generation must receive the Council anew, as a living source of guidance for the Church’s mission today.
Pope Leo highlighted the enduring themes of Vatican II, particularly its encouragement of dialogue and engagement with the modern world. The Council called the Church to foster authentic interreligious dialogue, to pursue unity among Christians through ecumenism, and to collaborate with all people of good will in the service of truth and the dignity of the human person. These principles, the Pope reminded the faithful, were never meant to dilute Catholic identity, but to express it more clearly and charitably in a complex and often divided world.
Returning to the documents of Vatican II, Pope Leo explained, is both an act of fidelity and an act of renewal. It is a return to the Church’s recent heritage and a recommitment to her evangelical mission. The Council sought to help Catholics love the Lord more deeply, serve His Church more faithfully, and carry the light of Christ into the world with confidence and humility. That mission remains unchanged, even as the cultural circumstances surrounding it continue to evolve.
Ashley Noronha noted that the Pope’s message challenges Catholics to resist the temptation to see Vatican II through purely ideological lenses. Instead, Pope Leo called for a reading rooted in prayer, guided by the Magisterium, and attentive to the Holy Spirit, who continues to animate the Church.
As the new year begins, Pope Leo’s call sets a clear tone for the months ahead. By returning to Vatican II with fresh eyes and faithful hearts, Catholics are invited to rediscover their identity as joyful evangelizers and courageous witnesses of justice and peace.