In a heartfelt address at the tomb of St. Peter, Pope Leo XIV welcomed the bishops of Madagascar on their Jubilee pilgrimage, hailing their unified visit to Rome as a “beautiful sign of unity” and a powerful witness of fraternity in Christ.

Marking their first encounter, the Pope expressed admiration for their shared commitment to the Holy Year and encouraged them to embrace their identity as both shepherds and sheep. “You are first of all pilgrims of hope,” he said, “for yourselves and for your people.”

He praised their pastoral dedication and missionary vitality, rooted in the legacy of saints and martyrs like Henri de Solages and St. Jacques Berthieu, whose sacrifices, he said, remain an enduring source of inspiration.

Underscoring his pastoral priorities, Pope Leo urged the bishops to care deeply for their priests and religious, describing them as “your first collaborators and your closest brothers.” He also issued a strong call to remain close to the poor, “the privileged recipients of the Good News,” and to reflect Christ’s love through concrete action and compassion.

In the spirit of Pope Francis, the Holy Father also called on the bishops to care for “our common home,” urging environmental stewardship of Madagascar’s “beauty and fragility.”

“Go forward in your service with courage and hope,” Pope Leo concluded, entrusting the bishops to the protection of Our Lady of Madagascar and the intercession of local saints and blesseds.

ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV TO THE BISHOPS OF MADAGASCAR

“Eminences, Your Excellencies, dear brothers in the episcopate!

It is with great joy that I welcome you today at the tomb of the Apostle Peter, you pastors of the Church in Madagascar, who have come to Rome on a Jubilee pilgrimage. This meeting has a special meaning for me, because it is our first meeting. I give thanks to the Lord for this opportunity for fraternity in Christ.

I must also tell you that I admire your decision to come all together to Rome, as bishops of Madagascar. It is a beautiful sign of unity, already agreed with the beloved Pope Francis, whom we feel spiritually present even at this time. He visited your country in 2019 and, three years later, welcomed you on their ad limina visit Apostolorum. This time it is the Jubilee, the Year of Grace proclaimed by the Lord Jesus, who convoked you.

And it is beautiful that you have become pilgrims of hope, together with the thousands and thousands of faithful who cross the Holy Doors of the papal basilicas every day. You are first of all pilgrims of hope for yourselves: you who are shepherds, have remembered that you are first of all sheep of the flock, to whom Christ says: “I am the door of the sheep. […] […] If anyone enters through me, he will be saved; he will come in and out and find pastures” (Jn 10:7). And at the same time you have become pilgrims of hope for your people, for families, for the elderly, children, the young; so that the Churches that are in Madagascar, through you, may receive the grace to walk in the hope that it is Jesus Christ.

I am pleased to hear you tell the joys and pastoral tests you bring faithfully. Your closeness to God’s people is a living sign of the Gospel. I encourage each one of you in your own episcopal ministry, in particular to care for the priests, who are your first collaborators and your closest brothers, as well as of the men and women religious who spend themselves in service.

I give thanks for the missionary vitality of your particular Churches, heirs of the witness of the saints who, in order to bring the Gospel to this distant land, have feared neither rejection nor persecution. I would like to remember Henri de Solages, the first missionary who did not let himself be discouraged by failure and imprisonment, or the holy martyr Jacques Berthieu, whose blood was the seed of Christians in Madagascar. May their example continue to strengthen you in the self-giving of Christ and his Church, between the successes and pastoral trials you go through to reach the people of God in the different realities of your dioceses.

I urge you not to turn your gaze away from the poor: they are at the center of the Gospel and are the privileged recipients of the proclamation of the Good News. Know in them that you recognize the face of Christ and that your pastoral action may always be animated by a concrete solicitude towards the little ones. May your ministry in this Jubilee, beyond trials, help them to ignite the ever new horizons of the hope offered by Christ.

Following Pope Francis, I invite you to take care of our common home, to preserve the beauty of the Great Island, whose beauty and fragility have been entrusted to you. The care of our home is an integral part of your prophetic mission. Take care of the groaning creation and teach your faithful the art of protecting it with justice and peace.

Dear brothers, go forward in your service with courage and hope. The Successor of Peter accompanies you with his prayer and his affection. May the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Madagascar, protect you. May Blessed Raphael Raphiring, Blessed Victoire Rasoamanarivo, Saint James Berthieu and all the saints of your land intercede for you. I bless you from my heart.”