The Pope began his speech by expressing the pleasure of meeting the members of the commission in view of the celebrations that will extend between 2023 and 2026, which will include pilgrimage visits to the city of Assisi, where the beginnings of this saint were. Then Pope Bergoglio said that when he chose the name Francis he knew that this name was associated with a very popular saint, although he was not understood. Francis is a man of peace and poverty, a man who loved and celebrated creation.
Then Pope Francis stressed that all this draws its roots from Jesus Christ, and that the source of his experience is the faith that Francis received as a gift before the Crucifix, and the crucified and risen Lord revealed to him the meaning of life and the sense of human suffering. When Jesus spoke to him about a leper, Francis experienced the greatness of God’s mercy and lived humility. So the saint spent hours with the Lord asking him: who are you? who I am? And he received the Holy Spirit in abundance, which moved him to imitate Jesus and follow the Bible to the letter. St. Francis lived to imitate the poor Christ and to love the poor, as if these two things were two sides of the same coin.
The Pope continued his speech, stating that the upcoming celebrations of the VIII Centenary will be an occasion that will not be limited to the rites, but will combine the imitation of Christ and the love of the poor. This will also be possible thanks to the atmosphere that will arise from the many Franciscan places, each of which has a distinctive character and a fruitful gift that contributes to the renewal of the Church’s face.
The Pope then focused on the importance of the stages that marked the life of St. Francis, starting with Fonte Colombo near Rieti in 1223 and then in Grecho, where he erected the Grotto of the Nativity, which was an invitation to rediscover the incarnation. of Jesus Christ, who is the way of God. The Pope recalled that the mystery of man finds true light only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word. As for the second station that marked the life of this saint, it was in La Verna, in 1224, when he received the wounds of the Crucifix, which enabled him to live the sufferings of the Lord and to enter the depths of the human condition, marked by pain. and suffering. The third and last stage was in 1226, when St. Francis entered the church of the Porziuncola and the essence of Christianity, which is the hope of eternal life, was revealed to him. The Pope stressed that it is no coincidence that the saint’s body, placed in the lower basilica, has become an attraction for people and the beating heart of Assisi.
The Pope went on to say: After eight centuries, St. Francis remains a secret whose revelation requires learning at the school of the poor so that through his life we find the way that allows us to follow the steps of the Lord, which means listening, walking and proclaiming the Gospel to the peripheries. The Pope recalled that Francis had listened to the voice of the Lord before the Crucifix, who asked him to repair his house, and the young saint responded to this call with great promptness and generosity. And he realized that God was asking him to make his contribution to the life of the Church, to serve and love it, to reflect the face of Christ.
Then the Pope reminded those present that Francis was a constantly mobile person, who traveled through different countries of Italy, was close to the people and eliminated the distance between the Church and the people. This is the kind of Christian community that feels the urge to get closer to people instead of withdrawing into itself. With regard to the announcement of the Good News, Pope Progoglio stressed that everyone needs justice and trust. And only faith gives back to our world closed in itself the breath of the Holy Spirit. In this way we can face the current challenges, especially peace, care for our common home and development, without surrendering to a reality that seems impossible to overcome.
At the end of his speech, the Pope encouraged his guests to fully experience the celebrations of the eighth centenary of the beginning of the message of St. Francis of Assisi, hoping that this spiritual and cultural journey, together with the Jubilee of the year 2025, it would help to consolidate the conviction that St. Francis exhorts the Church today to also live her fidelity to Christ, and her mission in our time. Then the Pope asked God to bless those present and asked them to pray for him.
