Ad Multos Annos
‘I think that, in order to truly take good care of ourselves, everyone should do a bit of activity for both body and soul – everything together.’ Pope Leo XIV
There is a health conscious saying at the moment; ‘better to be the oldest one in the gym than the youngest one in the nursing home’. It’s a saying designed to combat any embarrassment or trepidation those of us who now belong to the older generation may feel at presenting our ageing limbs and shrinking muscles for regular exercise.
In his newly renovated rooms in the Apostolic Palace, Pope Leo at 70 and after a year in office, has installed a home gym in order to continue the regular exercise that has always been part of his daily routine.
As someone confronted each morning and throughout the day with the often urgent sometimes desperate needs of the church and the world, he clearly needs every ounce of stamina he can muster.
In this month’s Intercom his message for World Communications Day where he calls for ‘responsibility, cooperation and education’ to deal with the digital age in which we live, he offers the church and humanity the kind of guidance and leadership that is so critically required in order to uphold the dignity and wonder of the human person.
Similarly in his message of peace also in this month’s Intercom he states, Depersonalising others is the first step in any war. To know others, on the other hand, is a foretaste of peace.’
In the traumatic year of war and displacement since the passing of Pope Francis and his election to the chair of Peter, Pope Leo has provided a steadfast, authentic and often calming voice amid the divisive and apocalyptic rhetoric around us.
He has challenged us to commit ourselves to peace in the way we think and behave. He clearly believes it is time to exercise those spiritual muscles which have grown limp in order to fight the good fight.
Pope Leo is showing the way.
Ad multos annos Holy Father.
Paul Clayton-Lea
Editor
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