Pope assures the poor that God loves them and asks governments to take action

- Cindy Wooden, Vatican City, CNS

Before joining hundreds of people for lunch, Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Jubilee Mass of the Poor, and prayed that all Christians would share “the love of God, who welcomes, binds up wounds, forgives, consoles and heals.”.

“In the midst of persecution, suffering, struggles and oppression in our personal lives and in society, God does not abandon us,” Pope Leo assured thousands of migrants, refugees and homeless people.

The Lord “reveals himself as the one who takes our side,” the Pope added in his homily on November 16, the day of the Church's celebration of the World Day of the Poor.

Volunteers from Vatican, diocesan and Rome-based Catholic charities joined the people they help for the Mass. The French charity Fratello organized an international pilgrimage, bringing hundreds of people to Rome.

Luncheon with more than 1,300 people, sponsored by the Vincentian Fathers

The Vatican reported that 6,000 people attended the Mass in the basilica, and another 20,000 followed the Mass on giant screens in St. Peter's Square. By the time Pope Leo XIII led the Angelus prayer, some 40,000 people were in the square.

Following the Angelus, and as part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of their foundation, the Vincentian Fathers sponsored and served lunch to the Pope and his guests. Members of the Daughters of Charity and volunteers from Vincentian organizations helped serve the meal and distributed 1,500 backpacks with food and hygiene items.

Lunch consisted of a first course of vegetable lasagna, followed by chicken cutlets with vegetables and, to finish, baba, a small Neapolitan cake dipped in syrup. Rolls, fruit, water and soft drinks were also provided.

Homes for the world's poor

Prior to the Mass, Father Tomaž Mavric, superior general of the Vincentians, symbolically handed Pope Leo the keys to the houses of the Vincentians« »Thirteen Houses Campaign." The name of the project, which has built homes for the poor around the world, is a tribute to St. Vincent de Paul and his decision in 1643 to use a donation from French King Louis XIII to build 13 small houses near the Vincentian headquarters in Paris to care for abandoned children.

‘Dilexi te’, ‘I have loved you’.”

In its homily During the Mass, Pope Leo XIII pointed out how the Bible is «woven with that golden thread that tells the story of God, who is always on the side of the little ones, the orphans, the strangers and the widows».

In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, “the closeness of God reaches the highest expression of love,” he said. “For this reason, the presence and the word of Christ become joy and jubilation for the poorest, since he came to proclaim the good news to them and to announce the year of the Lord's grace.”.

While the Pope thanked Catholics who help the poor, he said he wanted the poor themselves to hear “the irrevocable words of the Lord Jesus: ‘Dilexi te,’ ‘I have loved you.’”.

“A culture of care, to break the wall of loneliness”.”

“Yes, in the face of our littleness and poverty, God looks upon us as no one else and loves us with an everlasting love,” the Pope said. “And his Church, even today, perhaps especially in our time, still wounded by old and new forms of poverty, hopes to be ‘mother of the poor, a place of welcome and justice,’” he added, citing his exhortation on love for the poor.

While there are many forms of poverty - material, moral and spiritual - what cuts across them all and particularly affects young people is loneliness, he said.

“He invites us to look at poverty in an integral way, because while it is true that it is sometimes necessary to respond to urgent needs, we must also develop a culture of care, precisely in order to break down the walls of loneliness,” the Pope said . “Let us therefore be attentive to others, to each person, wherever we are, wherever we live.”.

Appeal to Heads of State and leaders: ‘There can be no peace without justice’.’

Poverty is a challenge not only for those who believe in God, he said, and appealed to «heads of state and leaders of nations to listen to the cry of the poorest of the poor". poor".

And the poor remind us of this in many ways: through migration, through their cries, which are often suffocated by the myth of well-being and progress that does not take everyone into account, and even forgets many individuals, leaving them to their fate.

Angelus: Christians, victims of discrimination and persecution

“Today, in various parts of the world, Christians are victims of discrimination and persecution,” Pope Leo XIV told some 40,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Angelus prayer.

“I am thinking in particular of Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique, Sudan and other countries from which news of attacks against communities and places of worship frequently arrive,” the Pontiff added. 

“I accompany with my prayers the families of Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he also noted, where in recent days there has been a massacre of civilians, with at least twenty victims due to a terrorist attack. “Let us pray that all violence may cease and that believers may collaborate for the common good.” But, Pope Leo XIV concluded, “God is a merciful Father and desires peace among all his children!”.

Persecution with lies and manipulations, the martyrs

“The persecution of Christians, in fact, occurs not only with weapons and mistreatment, but also with words, that is, through lies and ideological manipulation,” added Leo XIV.

“Above all, when we are oppressed by these evils, physical and moral, we are called to bear witness to the truth that saves the world, to the justice that redeems people from oppression, to the hope that shows everyone the way to peace.”.

“Dear brothers and sisters, throughout the history of the Church, it is above all the martyrs who remind us that God's grace is capable of transfiguring even violence into a sign of redemption,” he concluded.

Prayer for peace in Ukraine

The Holy Father did not forget Ukraine. “I follow with sorrow the news of the attacks that continue to strike numerous cities in Ukraine, including Kiev. These attacks have caused victims and wounded, among them also children, and enormous damage to civil infrastructures, leaving families homeless as the cold advances. I assure my closeness to the population in this ordeal. We cannot become accustomed to war and destruction. Let us pray together for a just and stable peace in the suffering Ukraine”.