Pope Francis asks that sermons last no more than 8 minutes so that faithful do not fall asleep

Pope Francis invited priests to give sermons that last no more than eight minutes because “people fall asleep.” The pontiff spoke this way during the general audience on Wednesday, June 12, in St. Peter’s Basilica, where he arrived surrounded by four children in the popemobile, from where he greeted the thousands of faithful who gathered to listen to his catechism, which focused on reading the Bible and the gospel.

“The homily should be brief: an image, a thought, a feeling. A homily should not last more than eight minutes because after that time attention is lost and people fall asleep, and you are right.. A homily should be like this. And that This is what I want to say to the priests who talk a lotoften, and it is not understood what they are talking about,” said the Supreme Pontiff.

He had already expressed this suggestion in January 2023, when he stated that long sermons “are a disaster.”

Priests must offer the faithful “a thought, a feeling and an action,” and must help “transmit the word of God from the book to life.”

Pope Francis also recalled the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas.

“Let us not forget the martyred Ukraine. Let us not forget Palestine and Israel, Myanmar (Burma) and so many countries that are at war. Today we want peace, war is always a defeat, from the first day,” said the pontiff, who will participate for the first time in a meeting of G7 leaders, which will take place in southern Italy, where he also intends to talk about peace issues.

And he asked that people pray “for peace” so that “the Lord always gives strength” to fight for it.

This Friday, June 14, Francis will be the first pope to join the leaders of the seven major world democracies at a G7 organized by Italy in Apulia (south). The pope will take part in the session on Artificial Intelligence (AI), a topic that worries the pontiff, and where he will ask that technology respect human dignity.