Guwahati, February 28, 2026: Pope Leo XIV has reminded seminarians that priestly formation must be grounded in a living and conscious relationship with God, warning that life becomes disordered when this relationship weakens or is neglected.

The Pope addressed seminarians from the Spanish dioceses of Alcalá de Henares, Toledo, Cartagena, and the Interdiocesan Seminary of Catalonia during a meeting at the Vatican on February 28. In his reflection, he invited them to cultivate what he described as a “supernatural view of reality,” which sustains every dimension of priestly life and ministry.

Quoting G.K. Chesterton, Pope Leo said, “Take away the supernatural and you will not find the natural, but the unnatural.” He explained that the “unnatural” includes ways of living that gradually push God to the margins of daily decisions and pastoral responsibilities.

Human beings, he noted, are created to live in relationship with God. When that relationship becomes obscured or weakens, interior disorder follows. The Pope cautioned that it would be particularly dangerous for a priest to speak about God while living without awareness of God’s presence.

“Nothing would be more dangerous than becoming accustomed to the things of God without living from God,” he said, underlining that authentic priestly life begins and continually returns to a concrete relationship with Christ.

Pope Leo encouraged the seminarians to practice the presence of God in daily life, allowing faith to shape concrete choices. A supernatural vision, he said, does not remove one from ordinary reality but deepens one’s understanding of it.

Using the image of trees that “die standing” while remaining outwardly upright but inwardly dry, the Pope warned against confusing pastoral fruitfulness with mere activity. Priestly formation, he said, requires interior transformation and the capacity to recognize how God acts in one’s own life and in the life of the faithful.

While acknowledging the importance of human and psychological formation, the Holy Father emphasized that the Holy Spirit remains the true protagonist in shaping hearts for priestly service.

Concluding his address, Pope Leo thanked the seminarians for their generosity in responding to the Lord’s call and reminded them that they do not walk alone. Christ goes before them, the Blessed Virgin Mary accompanies them, and the Church sustains them through prayer.