Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV has said that the true challenge of faith is not whether a person believes in God, but whether they sincerely seek Him. His reflection appeared in the February edition of the Italian magazine Piazza San Pietro, which focuses on the theme Faith that endures suffering.
In the magazine’s reader dialogue section,Pope responded to a letter from Rocco, an atheist from Reggio Calabria in southern Italy, who shared his struggle to believe in God while feeling a deep longing for Him.
Rocco described how watching sunrises, sunsets, the starry sky and the beauty of nature led him to reflect on what he called a mystery of harmony. In a poem he quoted in his letter, he wrote that although he considers himself an atheist, he continues to yearn for God. He asked Pope how someone can love God while believing they do not believe in Him.
In his reply, Pope Leo XIV cited St Augustine’s words, You were within me, but I was outside myself, and there I sought you. He explained that anyone who loves God and seeks Him sincerely cannot truly be called an atheist.
Pope wrote that the real issue of faith is not believing or not believing in God, but seeking Him. He added that God allows Himself to be found by hearts that search for Him and suggested that the deeper distinction is not between believers and non believers, but between seekers and non seekers of God.
He noted that even people who think they do not believe may in reality be searching deeply for God. Concluding his message, Pope said that all people long for love and are seekers of God, and that this desire reveals the dignity and beauty of human life.