Five takeaways from Pope Leo’s first ‘state of the world’ address

Leo laid out his diplomatic priorities for the upcoming year.

Pope Leo XIV delivered his first annual address to the Vatican diplomatic corps on Jan. 9, setting out his diplomatic priorities for the year.

The address, traditionally given at the start of the year, is often described as a papal “state of the world” speech. This year’s speech carried particular weight: it was Leo’s first opportunity to sketch his diplomatic priorities and to signal where he might be seeking continuity with or departure from Pope Francis.

What did Leo say in his address - and what insight does his speech offer about his diplomatic priorities and style for the upcoming year?

Pope Leo XIV addresses the Vatican diplomatic corps, May 16, 2025. Image credit: Vatican media.

Venezuela

Perhaps the most closely watched part of the speech was about Venezuela, following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in Caracas and airstrikes against military targets in the city.

The pope struck a careful tone in his Jan. 4 Angelus, saying that “the good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration and lead us to overcome violence and to undertake paths of justice and peace, safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, ensuring the rule of law enshrined in the Constitution, respecting the human and civil rights of each person and of all.”

He echoed that language in his address to diplomats, saying that he renewed his “appeal to respect the will of the Venezuelan people, and to safeguard the human and civil rights of all, ensuring a future of stability and concord.

He pointed to the example of the recently-canonized two Venezuelan saints, Saint José Gregorio Hernández and Saint Carmen Rendiles.

“May their witness inspire the building of a society founded on justice, truth, freedom and fraternity, and thus enable the nation to rise from the grave crisis that has afflicted it for so many years,” he said.

Notably, the pope’s Spanish version of the speech included an additional paragraph that was mistakenly read by the Spanish translator during the speech, but that the pope did not read and that did not appear in any other written version of the speech.

The paragraph points to drug trafficking as one of the causes of the Venezuelan crisis.

“Among the causes of this crisis is, without a doubt, drug trafficking, which is a scourge on humanity and requires the joint commitment of all countries to eradicate it and prevent millions of young people around the world from becoming victims of drug use,” it says.

“Alongside these efforts, there must be greater investment in human development, education, and the creation of employment opportunities for people who, in many cases, find themselves involved in the world of drugs without knowing it,” the section ends.

The mention of Venezuela in his speech continues Leo’s measured approach to the crisis in the country, as he walks a fine line between defending peace and dialogue and not looking like he’s doing Maduro’s bidding by being overtly critical of the U.S.-led attacks.

However, the seemingly erased reference to drug trafficking may be seen by observers as a missed opportunity to assign responsibility for Venezuela’s collapse in a way that many Venezuelans — and Western governments — would readily recognize.

Freedom of conscience

The pope dedicated several paragraphs of his speech to defending freedom of conscience and religion throughout the world.

First, Leo directly criticized politicized speech restrictions in Western nations, saying that “freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed precisely by the certainty of language and the fact that every term is anchored in the truth. It is painful to see how, especially in the West, the space for genuine freedom of expression is rapidly shrinking.”

“At the same time, a new Orwellian-style language is developing which, in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up excluding those who do not conform to the ideologies that are fueling it,” he added.

He said that this “weakening of language” has contributed to the violation of freedom of conscience.

“Conscientious objection allows individuals to refuse legal or professional obligations that conflict with moral, ethical or religious principles deeply rooted in their personal lives. This may be the refusal of military service in the name of non-violence, or the refusal on the part of doctors and healthcare professionals to engage in practices such as abortion or euthanasia,” he said.

“Freedom of conscience seems increasingly to be questioned by States, even those that claim to be based on democracy and human rights… A truly free society does not impose uniformity but protects the diversity of consciences, preventing authoritarian tendencies and promoting an ethical dialogue that enriches the social fabric,” he added.

The pope also criticized attacks on religious freedom in the West.

“At the same time, we must not forget a subtle form of religious discrimination against Christians, which is spreading even in countries where they are in the majority, such as in Europe or the Americas.”

“There, they are sometimes restricted in their ability to proclaim the truths of the Gospel for political or ideological reasons, especially when they defend the dignity of the weakest, the unborn, refugees and migrants, or promote the family,” he said.

Persecution against Christians

The pope also spoke about the persecution against Christians “affecting over 380 million believers worldwide.”

“They suffer high or extreme levels of discrimination, violence and oppression because of their faith. This phenomenon impinges on approximately one in seven Christians globally, and it worsened in 2025 due to ongoing conflicts, authoritarian regimes and religious extremism,” he said.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin had controversially said last October that attacks against Christians in Nigeria had a social and not a religious origin, while Pope Leo said in November that both Christians and Muslims were being slaughtered in the country, and downplayed the role religion played in the violence.

Even so, in his address on Friday, Leo explicitly listed Nigeria among the countries in which Christians are being persecuted, along with Bangladesh, the Sahel region, and other areas.

Nicaragua

While Leo’s speech revealed much about his priorities, what he did not mention may be equally revealing.

In his speech last year, Pope Francis said regarding Nicaragua that “the Holy See is always available for a respectful and constructive dialogue, and follows with concern the measures taken against people and institutions of the Church.” He added that “there cannot be true peace if religious freedom is not guaranteed.”

However, Leo did not mention Nicaragua even once, despite the fact that the situation there has deteriorated, and a Nicaraguan cardinal did not take part in this week’s consistory — widely believed to be the result of a government ban.

Leo’s silence may reflect a deliberate diplomatic calculation, aimed at avoiding further reprisals against local Catholics amid rumors of a potential agreement between the Nicaraguan bishops and the regime that would slightly reduce the pressure on the local Church.

Life, family, human dignity

Many of the pope’s international concerns and diplomatic priorities seem to be quite similar to that of his predecessor.

Leo reiterated Francis’ emphasis on migrants and refugees, insisting that “every migrant is a person” with inalienable rights, and noting that many are forced to flee violence, persecution, conflict, or the effects of climate change, particularly in parts of Africa and Asia.

Leo also gave an impassioned defense of the family and criticized abortion, surrogacy, and euthanasia.

Last year, Francis deplored the reinterpretation of human rights treaties in what he called a form of “ideological colonization.”

“It represents a form of genuine ideological colonization that attempts, in accordance with carefully planned agendas, to uproot the traditions, history and religious bonds of peoples,” he said, condemning attempts to establish “an alleged ‘right to abortion’.”

Leo said that “the vocation to love and to life, which manifests itself in an important way in the exclusive and indissoluble union between a woman and a man, implies a fundamental ethical imperative for enabling families to welcome and fully care for unborn life.”

“We categorically reject any practice that denies or exploits the origin of life and its development. Among these is abortion, which cuts short a growing life and refuses to welcome the gift of life,” the pope said.

He called for “the protection of every unborn child and the effective and concrete support of every woman so that she is able to welcome life.”

Leo also criticized the growth of surrogacy, saying that “by transforming gestation into a negotiable service, this violates the dignity both of the child, who is reduced to a ‘product,’ and of the mother, exploiting her body and the generative process, and distorting the original relational calling of the family.”

The pope further extended this rationale to euthanasia, saying, “Civil society and States also have a responsibility to respond concretely to situations of vulnerability, offering solutions to human suffering, such as palliative care, and promoting policies of authentic solidarity, rather than encouraging deceptive forms of compassion such as euthanasia.”