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Leo XIV defends crying: ‘It can even be the extreme form of prayer’

September 10, 2025 Catholic News Agency 2
Pope Leo XIV greets a young child before his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 10, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 10, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

In his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV explained that cries of pain, like those of Jesus in his final moments on the cross, instead of a sign of weakness, can express desire, surrender, and prayer.

A rainy morning in Rome prevented the Holy Father from spending much time greeting the faithful in St. Peter’s Square. Aboard the popemobile, he toured the square amid applause and cheers, stopping to give his blessing, especially to children.

The pope dedicated his catechesis at the weekly audience, which began just over five minutes late, to reflecting on the value of crying.

“At times, what we are unable to say in words, we express with the voice,” Leo said. “When the heart is full, it cries. And this is not always a sign of weakness; it can be a profound act of humanity.”

Although we are accustomed to thinking of crying as something disorderly to be repressed, the Gospel gives our cry a value, reminding us it can be “an invocation, a protest, a desire, a surrender,” the pope said.

“It can even be the extreme form of prayer, when there are no words left,” he continued.

“One cries not out of desperation, but out of desire. Jesus did not cry out against the Father, but to him. Even in silence, he was convinced that the Father was there,” the pontiff said. “And, in this way, he showed us that our hope can cry out, even when all seems lost.”

Pope Leo XIV waves at the crowds of people who braved a rainy morning for the general audience in St. Peter's Square on Sept. 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV waves at the crowds of people who braved a rainy morning for the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media

A cry that manifests the greatest love

Addressing pilgrims huddled under umbrellas in protection against sporadic rain showers, Pope Leo meditated on the “culmination of Jesus’ life in this world: his death on the cross.”

Specifically, he highlighted an important detail worthy of faithful contemplation: That “on the cross, Jesus does not die in silence.”

The pontiff explained that after fulfilling his mission on earth, from the cross, “Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last.” For the Holy Father, “that cry contains everything: pain, abandonment, faith, offering. It is not only the voice of a body giving way, but the final sign of a life being surrendered.” 

He also recalled that the cry was preceded by a question, “one of the most heart-rending that could be uttered: ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’”

Pope Leo XIV emphasized that, in that final moment, Jesus experiences silence, absence, and the abyss. However, according to the pontiff, “it is not a crisis of faith, but the final stage of a love that is given up to the very end.”

“Jesus’ cry is not desperation, but sincerity, truth taken to the limit, trust that endures even when all is silent,” he emphasized.

He added that “it is there, in that broken man, that the greatest love manifests itself. It is there that we can recognize a God who does not remain distant, but who traverses our pain to the very end.”

Pope Leo XIV spoke about the value of crying during his weekly audience with the public in St. Peter's Square on Sept. 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV spoke about the value of crying during his weekly audience with the public in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media

Jesus teaches us not to fear crying

The pope also explained that to cry can be a “spiritual gesture,” since it is often one’s first act after birth and a way to stay alive.

“One cries when one suffers, but also when one loves, one calls, one invokes. To cry out is saying who we are, that we do not want to fade away in silence, that we still have something to offer,” he added.

Leo invited those listening not to hold back their tears, because keeping everything inside “can slowly consume us.”

The pontiff insisted that “Jesus teaches us not to be afraid to cry out, as long as it is sincere, humble, addressed to the Father. A cry is never pointless, if it is born of love.”

At the end of his message, Pope Leo XIV encouraged the faithful to learn from the Lord to give a “cry of hope when the hour of extreme trial comes.” 

“Not to hurt, but to entrust ourselves. Not to shout at someone, but to open our hearts. If our cry is genuine, it can be the threshold of a new light, of a new birth,” he said. 

Pope Leo XIV greets newlyweds and sick and disabled people, including a young child in a wheelchair, in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall after the Wednesday general audience on Sept. 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV greets newlyweds and sick and disabled people, including a young child in a wheelchair, in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall after the Wednesday general audience on Sept. 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media

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