Forty-five years to the day that Pope St. John Paul II survived an assassination attempt in St. Peter’s Square — an outcome he attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary’s protection — Pope Leo XIV devoted his General Audience reflection to the Blessed Mother, saying the Church can look to her as an example and turn to her for any need.
Pope Leo noted that he dedicated his catechesis to Mary because May 13 is the feast of Our Lady of Fatima and the anniversary of the assassination attempt. Before the address, he also stopped to pray at the place Pope St. John Paul II was shot.
Before beginning his General Audience, Pope Leo XIV stops to pray where St. John Paul II was shot on May 13, 1981. pic.twitter.com/07RWEXj46j
— Zeale News (@ZealeNews) May 13, 2026
Throughout recent Wednesday General Audience addresses, Pope Leo has been teaching on the documents of the Second Vatican Council. Continuing this in the May 13 address, he reflected on the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium’s final chapter, which focuses on the Blessed Mother. He elaborated on the chapter’s statement indicating that, as he explained, Mary is “the model and the pre-eminent member and mother of the entire ecclesial community.”
“By allowing Herself to be shaped by the work of Grace, which came to fulfilment in Her, and by welcoming the gift of the Most High with Her faith and Her virginal love, Mary is the perfect model of what the whole Church is called to be: a creature of the Word of the Lord and mother of the children of God, begotten in docility to the action of the Holy Spirit,” he said.
He also described Mary as “the believer par excellence,” the perfect model “of unconditional openness to the divine mystery within the communion of God’s holy people,” a model of Christian trust and faith.
“Mary is the mother of the whole Church, which can turn to her with filial confidence, in the certainty of being heard, protected and loved,” he said.
Pope Leo during his General Audience on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima: "As our mother by grace, she is the one to whom we can turn with filial trust, in the certainty of being heard, protected, and loved. In a special way, Mary cooperated in the work of salvation, through… pic.twitter.com/R1er3sky0T
— Zeale News (@ZealeNews) May 13, 2026
The Pontiff also briefly reflected on Mary’s cooperation in the work of Redemption as explained by Lumen Gentium, saying, “The Council has left us a clear teaching on the unique place reserved to the Virgin Mary in the work of Redemption.”
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“It recalls that the sole Mediator of salvation is Jesus Christ, and that his Mother Most Holy ‘in no way impedes, but rather fosters the immediate union of the faithful with Christ’,” he continued, quoting the constitution. “At the same time, ‘predestined from eternity by that decree of divine providence which determined the incarnation of the Word to be the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin … in this singular way … cooperated by Her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Saviour in giving back supernatural life to souls. Wherefore She is our mother in the order of grace.’”
The Pontiff encouraged the faithful to contemplate the mystery of the Church through the model of Our Lady, saying that in the Blessed Mother the Church “recognizes her own archetype, the ideal figure of what she is called to be.” Lumen Gentium’s reflections on Mary, he said, show the faithful how to love the Church and serve within it.
“Let us be challenged, therefore, by the sublime model who is Mary, Virgin and Mother,” he continued, “and let us ask Her to help us, through Her intercession, to respond to what is asked of us through Her example: do I live my participation of the Church with humble and active faith?
“Do I recognize in her the community of the covenant that God has given me to respond to His infinite love? Do I feel that I am a living part of the Church, in obedience to the pastors given by God? Do I look to Mary as a model, an outstanding member and Mother of the Church, and ask Her to help me be a faithful disciple of her Son?”
He concluded by praying that the Holy Spirit provides the grace to live accordingly.
“And, having reflected deeply on the Constitution Lumen Gentium,” he said, “let us ask the Virgin to obtain this gift for us: that love for the Holy Mother Church may grow in all of us. So be it!”