Pope Leo XIV praises Catholics who led Church in ‘new directions’

Pope Leo XIV on Friday highlighted the contributions of laypeople and religious who helped shape Catholic social teaching and embodied “a Church forging ahead in new directions.”

During a Sept. 18 audience with approximately 50 members of the Leo XIV International Study Center, the pope described Christian humanism as “a vision open to the Creator” that fosters fraternal relationships. He said Catholic social teaching emerged from that same humanist tradition.

“The Church’s social doctrine also emerged from this matrix,” Leo said in the Vatican’s Consistory Hall. “Its analysis of Christian revelation in the context of modern social, labor, economic, and cultural issues would not have been possible without the contribution of the laity, men and women alike, who grappled with the great issues of their time.”

“At their side were those men and women religious who embodied a Church forging ahead in new directions,” he said, quoting his apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te .

The research, educational, and cultural institution was founded within the Order of St. Augustine in October 2025 and is dedicated to studying the life and magisterium of Pope Leo XIV.

“The epochal change we…