Pope Leo XIV: Care for creation serves the common good
Vatican News
Greeting pilgrims from the Edith Haberland-Wagner Foundation and Munich’s historic Augustiner-Bräu (Augustiner Brewery), Pope Leo XIV reflected on the spiritual heritage of the Augustinian tradition and renewed the Church’s call to responsible stewardship of creation.
Addressing the group on Saturday morning at the Vatican, the Holy Father thanked the pilgrims for marking the anniversary of his election to the See of Peter through their pilgrimage to Rome and for their “prayerful support” of his ministry.
The Pope also expressed gratitude for the gifts presented by representatives of the Bavarian brewery, using the occasion to offer two reflections inspired by their history and mission.
Recalling first the brewery’s historic ties to the Augustinian Order, Pope Leo XIV noted the profound personal significance that the spirituality of Saint Augustine continues to hold in his own life. Quoting from a 2025 video message to the Augustinian Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova, he said Saint Augustine reminds believers that “we all have God-given gifts and talents, and our purpose, fulfilment and joy comes from offering them back in loving service to God and to our neighbour.”
Laudato sì
Pope Leo also turned his attention to Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato si', noting that the Church had recently commemorated the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ death. He recalled the late Pontiff’s teaching on “the God-given grandeur of the whole of creation,” including the food and drink that sustain human life.
Quoting the Encyclical, Pope Leo XIV said that every creature reflects God’s love and that “everything is, as it were, a caress of God.” He added that this awareness calls humanity to a “great responsibility” to care for creation and to ensure that its resources are used wisely and justly.
“Justice,” the Pope explained, “is a prerequisite for peace.”
As the pilgrims prepared to return home to Germany, he encouraged them to continue promoting “a just and effective approach to caring for creation,” both in their professional activities and in their personal lives, always for the sake of the common good.
The Augustiner Brewery and Edith Haberland-Wagner Foundation
The history of the Augustiner brewery is closely connected to the Augustinian friars of Munich. In 1328, Augustinian monks began brewing beer in their monastery near Munich Cathedral. For nearly five centuries, the friars produced and sold their beer directly from the monastery brewery. Following the secularisation of 1803, the Bavarian state assumed control of the monastery and the brewery was privatised. In 1829, the enterprise was acquired by brewer Anton Wagner of Freising, beginning a continuous period of private ownership that continues to this day. Later, Josef Wagner, Anton’s son, built a modern brewery on Landsberger Straße in Munich, where every drop of Augustiner beer has been produced since 1884.
The Edith-Haberland-Wagner Foundation, established by the main heir to the Augustiner Brewery, promotes social responsibility through initiative and entrepreneurship. It supports projects that preserve the Augustiner Brewery and enable a wide range of charitable endeavours in areas such as monument protection, education, youth development, art and culture, charitable causes, sports, animal welfare, the environment, and science.
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