Pope Leo XIV traveled to Assisi to close the 81st General Assembly of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. His first stop was to the crypt in the Lower Basilica of Saint Francis, where he prayed before the saint’s tomb.
Afterward, Pope Leo XIV went to the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, where he encouraged the Italian Church to return to the fundamentals of the faith.
POPE LEO XIV
Walking together, walking with everyone, also means being a Church that lives among the people, that welcomes their questions, eases their sufferings, and shares their hopes. Continue to stay close to families, to young people, to the elderly, to those who live in solitude. Continue dedicating yourselves to the care of the poor.
The Pope recalled current challenges—violence, loneliness, and technology—and invited the faithful to promote friendship and fraternity in response, in order to build open and responsible communities.
POPE LEO XIV
What matters is that, in this synodal style, we learn to work together and that, in the particular Churches, all of us commit to building Christian communities that are open, hospitable, and welcoming, in which relationships translate into mutual co-responsibility for the proclamation of the Gospel.
Before returning to the Vatican, Pope Leo went to Montefalco, about 30 km from Assisi. He visited the monastic community that preserves the memory of Saint Clare, known as the Congregation of the Cross.
All of them are Augustinian nuns and, in fact, they already knew each other. Years ago he visited them as a priest and as Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, and now as Pope.
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass with the nuns inside the monastery and later went to pray before the remains of Saint Clare of Montefalco.
The pontiff sat down to eat with them and later returned to the Vatican. The abbess commented that it was a “very familiar” moment.
BAM
Trans. CRT
