James O'Reilly
“You are Peter” sang the people of Naples as they welcomed Pope Leo XIV before his meeting with the diocesan community. This is how the music sounded inside the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta.
NATS TU SEI PIETRO
Numerous faithful were waiting for him in the cathedral. Cardinal Battaglia was also present, and had five days earlier confirmed the miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius, which happens three times a year.
The pope venerated the miraculous blood and prayed before the relics of the early Church martyr and bishop before he presided over a gathering of local clergy.
Art and culture are major hallmarks of the Mediterranean region in which Naples is located, although it takes effort to maintain and care for them.
POPE LEO XIV
The opposite of care is neglect. And some examples immediately come to mind: the neglect of streets and corners of the city, the neglect of shared spaces, that of the outskirts, and even more so all those situations in which life itself is neglected, when it becomes difficult to safeguard its beauty and dignity. But I would like us to focus first of all on the importance of inner care, which means caring for our hearts, our humanity, and our relationships.
Pope Leo recalled one of Pope Francis’ visits, who had made clear that although life in Naples has never been easy, it has never been sad either. Using the words of his predecessor, Pope Leo gave them an assignment.
POPE LEO XIV
What I ask of you, therefore, is this: listen to one another, walk together, create a symphony of charisms and ministries, and in this way find the means to move from a pastoral ministry of preservation to a missionary pastoral ministry, capable of engaging with the concrete lives of people.
As if the day marking the first anniversary of his papacy had not already been full enough, Pope Leo XIV has one more item on his agenda—a meeting with 20,000 people in Piazza del Plebiscito.
