Pope leads first Sunday Angelus after his stay in hospital

Source: Vatican Media

Thousands of pilgrims gathered in St Peter's Square today, to pray the Angelus with Pope Leo. This was his first scheduled public event since leaving Rome's Gemelli Hospital in the evening yesterday. The Holy Father underwent surgery on one lung last Tuesday. Doctors say he is making a good recovery.

In his reflection ahead of the Angelus, Pope Leo commented on "one of Jesus' best known sayings: 'Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's'."

Jesus was responding to a question about taxes that was intended to trap him. But "the Teacher's response" the Pope said, "is astute, for it allows him to avoid the trap and exposes the hypocrisy of those who seek to put him to the test".

Pope Leo draws out the conclusion we should come to when reading this passage: "In Jesus, we contemplate a God who is not afraid of history, but comes instead to dwell within it. His kingdom does not abolish human roles and responsibilities".

Instead, the Pope continued, Jesus calls us "to live without compromise, free from selfish ambitions and unjust motives, seeking above all the Kingdom of God and His righteousness". At the same time, the Pope notes that hypocrisy of those in the Gospel who praised Jesus, "even though their intentions are far from good".

Summing up, Pope Leo explained, "This is precisely what it means to 'render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's': to be truthful, free from servile fear or hypocrisy, free to do good".

Watch the Angelus on Vatican Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pvbYSoU91g

Read the full text of Pope Leo's address: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2026/10/18/0820/01527.html