Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 6, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Oct 11, 2023 / 10:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis dined with a group of Rome’s poor at his Vatican residence on Tuesday during the second week of the Synod on Synodality.
Like the synod assembly participants, the lunch guests were asked “what they expect from the Church,” Paolo Ruffini, president of the synod’s Commission for Information, told journalists Oct. 11.
“Their answer, it was said, was ‘love, only love,’” Ruffini said.
The Vatican communications official called the lunch “a little ‘circolo minore’ in Casa Santa Marta.” Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the pope’s almoner, was also present for the meal.
According to another synod communications official, the poor were one of the major topics of the synod’s discussions Oct. 10.
“A theme that came up quite strongly was the poor, the desire for a Church that is pro-poor, that is humble, that lowers herself, that walks with the poor,” Sheila Leocádia Pires, the secretary for the Commission for Information, said at a synod press briefing Oct. 11.
“We have to bear in mind that the poor have many faces and that [they] are usually excluded or may be excluded from society,” she added, noting that according to some synod members, “the poor are excluded more than any other group experiencing exclusion.”
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Pilgrims pass through the holy door at the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls on Jan. 5, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
CNA Newsroom, Feb 13, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).
Since Pope Francis marked the beginning of the 2025 Jubilee year, 1.3 million people have passed through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, according to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect for the New Evangelization section of the Dicastery for Evangelization.
Fisichella made the announcement at a Feb. 7 press conference for the Jubilee of the Armed Forces. The archbishop pointed out, however, that the numbers of pilgrims “are not a criterion of validity for the success of the Jubilee. What counts is what is in the hearts of people.”
Holy doors are usually only designated in the four papal basilicas in Rome — St. Peter’s in the Vatican, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls. But this year, Pope Franics also opened another location at Rebibbia prison in Rome.
Besides the Holy Doors, other factors have contributed to the high number of people visiting Rome and other parts of Italy to take part in this year’s celebration.
“The Jubilee is one of the major reasons we’re seeing the increased crowds. But also recent surveys show that Italy in general remains among the most popular travel destinations in the world,” Teresa Tomeo, an Italy travel expert and founder of the website, “T’s Italy, told CNA.
“A survey found that travelers want more than just a Roman or Italian holiday. They’re looking for ‘transformative’ travel,” Tomeo said. “What better place than Italy given all of the incredible and important religious sites, not to mention the natural beauty, for change or transformation to occur?”
Teresa Tomeo is pictured here (at center) during the Oct. 2024 pilgrimage she and her husband, Deacon Dominick Pastore, led to Italy. Credit: Courtesy of T’s Italy
Tomeo, a best-selling author who has led multiple Italian tours and visited the country on more than 60 occasions, said these pilgrimages have the power to strengthen a traveler’s faith.
“On our last pilgrimage in October of 2024, we had three of our pilgrims privately tell us that they were so moved or ‘transformed’ by what they experienced in Italy, that they were coming back into the Church,” she said.
Since the Jubilee has begun with such large crowds, locals and travelers should expect the high volume to continue.
“Easter time and the summer months are always the busiest times of year in Italy and especially Rome,” said Tomeo. “I don’t think it will be any different this year. The canonizations of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati fall within those time periods and those special events are expected to draw even larger crowds.”
Tomeo encourages visitors to fully immerse themselves in their Jubilee travels.
“Turin is where Blessed Frassati is from and is buried and it has so much to offer pilgrims in terms of other saints,” she said. “The church, St. John the Baptist, which houses his tomb, is also home to the chapel of the Shroud of Turin. Although the Shroud is not available for viewing and veneration during the Jubilee year, the church is breathtaking and Turino is home to another popular saint — St. John Bosco.”
“And then of course the medieval and unspoiled town of Assisi and the tomb of Carlo Acutis is a place that deserves more than just a day trip from Rome. Not to mention the surrounding area of Assisi in Umbria and other nearby saints such as St. Rita of Cascia, St. Clare of the Cross in Montefalco, and St. Angela of Foligno,” Tomeo said.
The Jubilee will continue until Jan. 6. 2026 and it is anticipated that more than 30 million pilgrims will make the religious journey to Rome during the holy year.
Vatican City, May 15, 2017 / 05:11 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Monday the Vatican announced that Pope Francis has named parish priest Fr. Bernard (Ned) Shlesinger of Raleigh, who was an airline pilot before entering seminary, as a new auxiliary bishop for … […]
1 Comment
Bending low Jesus uplifted the lowly, the poor, the humble, the stigmatized, the ostracized, the dejected, the rejected, and the ejected.
Bending low Jesus uplifted the lowly, the poor, the humble, the stigmatized, the ostracized, the dejected, the rejected, and the ejected.