Addressing the prelates of the Roman Rota on the occasion of the inauguration of the judicial year, Pope Leo XIV said today that “service to the truth in charity must shine out in all the work of the ecclesial tribunals.”
Warning against a “dangerous relativization of truth,” the Pontiff said that “misunderstood compassion, even if apparently motivated by pastoral zeal, risks obscuring the necessary dimension of ascertaining the truth proper to the judicial office.”
“On the other hand, there can at times be a cold and detached affirmation of the truth that does not take into account all that love for people requires, omitting those concerns dictated by respect and mercy, which must be present in all stages of a proceeding,” he added.
The Roman Rota’s responsibilities are described in the 2022 apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia, Praedicate Evangelium (nos. 200-204).