Ana Torres Fonseca
Pope Leo XIV briefly paused his summer vacation in Castel Gandolfo to share lunch with nearly 200 people in vulnerable situations from the Diocese of Rome.
The day began with a Mass for the Care of Creation. Afterward, the participants toured Borgo Laudato Si', the project launched by the Vatican to promote integral ecology in the Pontifical Villas.
The moment eagerly awaited for came when the Pope sat down to eat with families, homeless, immigrants and refugees who had been supported throughout the year by parishes, Caritas and other charitable organizations in the Diocese of Rome.
During his remarks, the Pope noted that he had come empty handed and with an empty stomach... he also emphasized that hunger is not only a lack of food.
POPE LEO XIV
I have come without a speech, but instead with hunger. Hunger for justice, for authentic charity. Hunger for a Church that knows how to open its doors and receive everyone.
The initiative was born last summer, when the Laudato Si' Higher Education Center decided to make the gathering an annual event, inviting people from a different diocese each year to spend a day with the Pope at Borgo Laudato si'.
