Vatican City: Ahead of Lent, Pope Leo XIV has called on Catholics around the world to abstain not only from food and comforts but also from harsh words and rash judgment, urging believers to create space for hope and peace through kindness in speech.
In his message for Lent 2026, released on Friday, the Pope highlighted what he described as a practical yet often overlooked form of abstinence: refraining from words that offend and hurt others.
As Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 18, the Pope said the season offers Christians a chance to place God back at the center of their lives. He noted that every journey of conversion begins by allowing God’s word to touch the heart and renew the commitment to follow Christ through His passion, death, and resurrection.
Pope Leo emphasized the importance of listening both to God and to others, saying true relationships are built through attentive listening. He said Sacred Scripture helps believers recognize and respond to the cries of those who suffer amid the many competing voices in modern society.
He added that openness to listening helps Christians recognize how the poor challenge personal lifestyles, economic systems, and even the Church itself.
Turning to fasting, the Pope said it helps believers rediscover their hunger for justice and frees them from complacency. Because fasting involves the body, he explained, it helps people understand what they truly need and encourages them to order their desires toward God and good deeds.
He cautioned that fasting must be practiced with humility and faith, not pride, and noted that other forms of self denial can also encourage a simpler and more balanced way of life.
Pope gave special attention to the discipline of speech, urging people to disarm their language by avoiding slander, harsh words, and speaking ill of others who cannot defend themselves. Instead, he encouraged kindness and respect in families, workplaces, social media discussions, political debates, media spaces, and Christian communities.
If people choose words carefully, he said, language marked by hatred can give way to words of hope and peace.
Pope Leo also stressed the communal dimension of Lent, saying listening and fasting should be lived out in parishes, families, and religious communities. By listening to the poor and allowing reality to challenge them, Christians can form their conscience and improve relationships while responding to humanity’s thirst for justice and reconciliation.
He concluded by calling on Christian communities to become welcoming places for those who suffer and asked the faithful to seek the strength that comes from fasting that includes careful use of language, so that hurtful words diminish and greater space is given to the voices of others.