In a message to the 17th National Missionary Congress of Mexico, Pope Leo XIV likened the work of evangelization to the kneading of dough to activate leaven.
Citing the words of Jesus—“The kingdom of heave is like leaven…” (Mt 13:33)—the Pope said that the leaven of the Gospel which came to Mexico through a few missionaries has been kneaded into “the new flour of a continent that did not yet know Christ’s name,” transforming the culture with the faith “until the Gospel took root in the people’s hearts and blossomed into works of unique holiness and beauty.”