It’s become customary for the Pope to offer what’s called a “general audience” on most Wednesdays throughout the year. During these audiences the Holy Father typically offers a Catechetical address to the people who visit St. Peter’s. The idea being that the people of Rome (the Pope’s Diocese) and pilgrims to Rome from around the world get to hear from their Holy Father.
These audiences began under the time of Pope Pius XII in April of 1939 and they continued until the German occupation of Rome made it impossible in 1943. Later these audiences resumed during the time of Pope John XXIII and have continued until now. Aside from being an neat development in recent Catholic history, these audiences have become one of the ways that a Pope can fulfill his role as the shepherd and teacher of the Church.
Obviously the style and the topics of these addresses vary from one Pope to another, but all of them are moments of instruction offered by the Pope. Famously, Pope St. John Paul II gave a long series of audiences on the Theology of the Body, and last year Pope Francis offered a very insightful series on the Virtues and Vices, and currently Pope Leo has just begun a series on the documents of the Second Vatican Council.
These audiences are an excellent way to study our Catholic faith (since they are like little lectures presented by the Vicar of Christ), but also they are an excellent way to come to know the mind of a Pope. Very often people want to know who the Pope is, or at least to get a sense of what he’s doing over there in the Eternal City. If either of these are true about you, I would these audiences are an excellent way to learn about our faith and to come to know the Pope more than just through news reports. They available on the Vatican website (Vatican.va) or if you look up Pope Leo’s general audiences you can find them that way as well.
Father Kehoe