Beatriz Alonso de Medina
After several days of heat in Rome, the early morning began like this…
But the heavy rain and thunder that stormed the Roman skies failed to stop the pilgrims who had come to St. Peter's Square to join Pope Leo XIV at the weekly General Audience.
In his catechesis this week, the pope focused his remarks on the liturgy and its inner meaning:
POPE LEO XIV
The rites of the Christian liturgy are not an external adornment of the sacramental mystery, nor a collection of arbitrary ceremonies, but are the ecclesial mediation through which the divine gift reaches us.
Pope Leo also used his greetings to the pilgrims to deliver several messages about peace and ecclesial fraternity.
POPE LEO XIV
I would like to reserve a special word for the priests and religious of the Middle East: I accompany your ministry and the hopes of your respective countries with my prayer and my blessing.
The pope then imparted his apostolic blessing to those present, sang the Our Father in Latin, and greeted bishops from different parts of the world who had brought gifts unique to their respective regions.
