Pope Leo XIV exhorted the faithful to abandon passivity and indifference regarding the imbalances of the contemporary world. ^[1] Pope Leo XIV stated during the Wednesday General Audience on September 2 that the Church is called to be at the service of humanity by engaging with reality and its contradictions. ^[2] Pope Leo XIV during his general audience in St. Peter's Square on 2026-09-02 inaugurated a new series of catecheses on Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council's pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world. ^[3] Pope Leo XIV stated that it is impossible to remain as disinterested spectators and that it is necessary to listen with the heart and get involved. ^[4] The Pope highlighted the contradiction of having a shared consciousness that the future of the planet is at stake while being unable to renounce selfish consumption. ^[5] Pope Leo XIV highlighted to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square that the Church must leave behind all passivity and indifference in the face of current events, history, and people's lives. ^[6] Pope Leo XIV noted that the promulgation of Gaudium et Spes recognized that the Church shares in the joys, hopes, griefs, and anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or afflicted. ^[7] Pope Leo XIV stated that the option for the poor is primarily a theological category rather than a cultural, sociological, political, or philosophical one. ^[8] Pope Leo XIV lamented the persistent inability to renounce selfish consumption and 'the illusion that war is an effective means of building peace.' ^[9] Pope Leo XIV recalled that Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council's pastoral constitution, opens with the statement that the Church makes her own the joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties of the people of this age, especially the poor and afflicted. ^[10] Pope Leo XIV pointed out the disparity between the availability of wealth and economic power versus the hunger and misery suffered by a large part of humanity. ^[11]