Pope Leo: Playing ruins households

[ad_1] Pope Leo XIV meets with mayors from throughout Italy, calling on them to advertise “authentically human relationships” with the intention to fight playing and different types of loneliness.

By Joseph Tulloch

The “demographic disaster”, the “struggles” of households and younger folks, social isolation among the many aged, the “silent cry” of the poor, environmental air pollution, and “social conflicts” are among the many largest issues confronted by cities and cities throughout Italy, Pope Leo stated on Monday.

The Pope was talking throughout a gathering with mayors from the Assocazione Nazionale dei Comuni Italiani (‘Nationwide Affiliation of Italian Native Authorities’) within the Vatican on the twenty ninth December.

Tackling these issues, the Pope stated, requires to start with listening to the voices of the weak and the poor. In any other case, he confused, “democracy atrophies, turns into only a title, a formality.”

<source media="(min-width: 1024px)" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-original-set="/content/dam/vaticannews/agenzie/images/srv/2025/12/29/2025-12-29-membri-dell-associazione-nazionale-comuni-italiani/1767003714963.JPG/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.1500.844.jpeg 2x, /content/dam/vaticannews/agenzie/images/srv/2025/12/29/2025-12-29-membri-dell-associazione-nazionale-comuni-italiani/1767003714963.JPG/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg 1x"> <source media="(min-width: 768px)" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-original-set="/content/dam/vaticannews/agenzie/images/srv/2025/12/29/2025-12-29-membri-dell-associazione-nazionale-comuni-italiani/1767003714963.JPG/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.1000.563.jpeg 2x, /content/dam/vaticannews/agenzie/images/srv/2025/12/29/2025-12-29-membri-dell-associazione-nazionale-comuni-italiani/1767003714963.JPG/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.500.281.jpeg 1x"> Pope Leo greets the mayors (@Vatican Media)

‘Main’ enhance in playing Pope Leo then stated he needed to “draw consideration particularly to the scourge of playing,” which has “ruined many households.”

“Statistics present a serious enhance in Italy in recent times,” the Pope confused, highlighting a latest Caritas report which described playing as a “significant issue” for schooling, psychological well being, and societal belief within the nation.

Describing the difficulty as a type of “loneliness,” Pope Leo known as on public authorities to fight it by selling “authentically human relationships between residents.”

Citing Don Primo Mazzolari, a 20 th -century Italian Catholic priest and social activist, the Pope confused that Italy “doesn't solely want sewers, homes, roads, aqueducts, and pavements,” but additionally “a means of feeling, of residing, a means of each other, and a means of coming collectively as brothers and sisters.”

<source media="(min-width: 1024px)" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-original-set="/content/dam/vaticannews/agenzie/images/srv/2025/12/29/2025-12-29-membri-dell-associazione-nazionale-comuni-italiani/1767003710532.JPG/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.1500.844.jpeg 2x, /content/dam/vaticannews/agenzie/images/srv/2025/12/29/2025-12-29-membri-dell-associazione-nazionale-comuni-italiani/1767003710532.JPG/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg 1x"> <source media="(min-width: 768px)" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-original-set="/content/dam/vaticannews/agenzie/images/srv/2025/12/29/2025-12-29-membri-dell-associazione-nazionale-comuni-italiani/1767003710532.JPG/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.1000.563.jpeg 2x, /content/dam/vaticannews/agenzie/images/srv/2025/12/29/2025-12-29-membri-dell-associazione-nazionale-comuni-italiani/1767003710532.JPG/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.500.281.jpeg 1x"> <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-original="https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/agenzie/images/srv/2025/12/29/2025-12-29-membri-dell-associazione-nazionale-comuni-italiani/1767003710532.JPG/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg" alt="The Pope reads his speech in the Vatican's Clementine Hall" title="The Pope reads his speech in the Vatican's Clementine Hall"/> The Pope reads his speech within the Vatican's Clementine Corridor (@Vatican Media)

Christmas and ‘genuine energy’ In his tackle, Pope Leo additionally mirrored on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, celebrated the day prior, on which the Church remembers the younger youngsters massacred by King Herod in an try and kill the toddler Jesus.

This bloodbath, the Pope stated, is a manifestation of an “inhuman energy,” one which “doesn't know the great thing about love as a result of it ignores the dignity of human life.”