reflections, updates and homilies from Deacon Mike Talbot inspired by the following words from my ordination: Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach...
Pope at Mass in Rimini: ‘At every level, authority is service'
During the Mass concluding his one-day pastoral visit to San Marino and Rimini, Pope Leo XIV reminds the faithful that St. Peter’s faith is the foundation of our call to our call to service, following in the footsteps of Jesus, the Messiah, who became incarnate to serve humanity.
By Christopher Wells
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time at the Italian port of Rimini on Saturday evening, concluding a one-day pastoral visit that began in the Republic of San Marino and included an encounter with the participants in the “Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples.”
The Holy Father began his homily by recalling St. Peter’s profession of faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, recounted in the day’s Gospel.
“We are here,” Pope Leo said, “because we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the eternal Son of the Father, consecrated and sent into the world ‘to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
In Peter’s words, he continued, “we recognize the truth that fills us with joy and hope, and we find the path that leads to life: the path of God who places Himself at the service of humanity.”
The Pope incenses the image of the patroness of Rimini (@Vatican Media)
Pope Leo explained that this is how we should understand Jesus’ handing of the keys of the Kingdom, a gesture that shows us that in the Church, authority is service.
Not only bishops and priests, but every baptized person, he said, is called to embrace, reunite, welcome, liberate, forgive, and emancipate “anyone imprisoned by sin and its consequences.
Turning to the Old Testament reading, which saw the unjust steward removed from his position in favour of the righteous Eliakim, Pope Leo drew the lesson: “everything we have and are is a gift from God to us, so that, in His hands, we can be instruments of salvation for one another in justice.”
Pope Leo went on to explain the “inscrutability” of God’s plans for us—expressed by St Paul in the Second Reading—saying that those plans are not complex because of the reasoning behind them, but because of “the disarming immensity of His love, which surpasses all our capacity and expectations.”
This divine loved, which we are called to imitate, is mirrored in the honesty, generosity, and, benevolence of the people of the Romagna region, the Holy Father sad, as he encouraged them to continue to ensure that the area is welcoming, “not only for its refreshment and entertainment, but also for its spirituality.”
In the context of the summer vacation that is drawing to a close, Pope Leo warned the faithful not to allow a period of rest to lead to “dispersion and ruin,” but rather to take the opportunity to find rest in a genuine encounter with God and other people in the depths of our souls.
He said the Christian community is called to foster this experience, as individuals and institutions, through hospitality, recollection, and the willingness “to help and to offer charity.” This applies not only to our engagement with those seeking rest and refreshment, but also with those “wounded in body and spirit, who seek refuge, food, and assistance far from their homeland.”
Quoting the local Bishop, Pope Leo XIV invited the faithful gathered for the Holy Mass to take up the attitudes of prayer, unity, listening, courage, simplicity, gratitude, before thanking them for their welcome and commending them to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and their patron saints.
Pope meets with the sick and poor in Rimini: ‘You are home’
Pope Leo XIV meets with people who are sick, persons with disabilities and people living in poverty assisted by Caritas in the Rimini Cathedral and reminds them of God’s love for them.
By Kielce Gussie
After meeting those participating in the 47th Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples, Pope Leo XIV travelled to the Rimini Cathedral to meet with people who are sick, persons with disabilities and people living in poverty assisted by Caritas.
Expressing his gratitude for the Meeting, the Pope explained that the Cathedral is where “you are at home” because Jesus welcomed the sick, the poor, and those with disabilities at the center to “heal them and restore to them a life worthy of their dignity.”
In that way, he demonstrated God’s love and infinite mercy. After experiencing those signs and being healed, these people followed Jesus and joined his community of disciples.
Pope Leo urged everyone to follow this example. We are called to let Jesus heal us, to forgive us, and transform us. After that, we are called to walk together in his Church, that is the community he created to bring the Gospel to everyone.
With that in mind, the Pope once again thanked and encouraged everyone to “follow the Lord by taking an active part in the life of the Church—in the parish, in associations, and in places of welcome and service.” It is in these moments that we learn and experience God’s great love and realize that we are all his children and brothers and sisters to one another.
The Diocesan Caritas of Rimini offers a variety of services to help and care for the most vulnerable people in the local community. Some of the initiatives include a soup kitchen, Grandparents’ Outreach Service, prison services, and street outreach.
Supporting the Pope’s Mission
In his welcoming address to the Pope, Bishop Nicolò Anselmi recalled the figures who inspire the Diocese spiritually: from the two young people recently beatified, Sandra Sabattini and Alberto Marvelli, to the witness of the Servant of God Fr. Oreste Benzi, a priest from Rimini and founder of the Pope John XXIII Community. They are an inspiration to so many of the brothers and sisters present, “who are going through a difficult period in their lives”: from illness to addiction, as well as imprisonment. “Jesus is asking you to care for these people,” the bishop said.
Bishop Anselmi explained to Pope Leo that the cathedral houses two important relics: one of Saint Nicholas of Bari, “which offers us the opportunity to engage in ongoing ecumenical dialogue,” and a cloth bearing the blood of Saint John Paul II, “displayed here in an exhibition that includes a photograph of Pope Wojtyła alongside a very young Robert Prevost.”
Finally, the bishop addressed the Pope with words of trust and commitment: “We want to help you carry out this great task. We too, with you and like Peter, want Jesus and want to love one another. Bless us, Your Holiness, in this desire for love that we wish to live in our families, in our diocese and in the world.”
Pope to Rimini Meeting: Our identity as God’s children unites us
During his visit to the Rimini Meeting of Friendships Among Peoples, Pope Leo XIV urges the participants to always love the Church and commends young people who with their love for Christ and the Church, attract others to the faith.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
Pope Leo XIV addressed participants in the 47th “Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples” on Saturday afternoon at the Rimini Exhibition Centre.
The Pope's visit to the week-long event, organized annually by the Communion and Liberation Movement at the end of August, takes place in the context of his Pastoral Visit to the Republic of San Marino and to the city of Rimini.
In his remarks to the Meeting, the Pope encouraged those present in their faith and urged them to learn from Jesus' example of promoting peace in times of conflict and injustice.
"Today too, peace is fostered and spread by people who love to encounter one another and are not afraid to engage with one another. In his Encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis taught us to cultivate social friendship, which is the public, dynamic and concrete expression of fraternity."
“Before borders, definitions, and institutions, there are always people.”
"When we recognize one another in the dignity of being children of God," Pope Leo observed, "we come into contact with that which fundamentally unites human beings, beyond every difference, division or conflict."
'Evil is not fought with evil'
The Pope reminded those present that "love moves" and reflected on how Jesus described the perfection of God, revealing the gulf between the generosity of his action and the narrowness of human thoughts.
Reality, he noted, suffocates within our calculations and breathes in God’s gratuitousness.
The Holy Father said it is "no coincidence" that my predecessors—Saint John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis—all pointed to divine mercy as the point of impact between the Gospel and the “new things” of this dramatic and wonderful age.
Pope Leo greeting the participants of the Rimini Meeting (@Vatican Media)
"To follow Jesus Christ in the wake of the tragedies and new beginnings of the twentieth century," Pope Leo underscored, "requires a clear awareness that evil is not overcome by evil."
"As in heaven, so on earth," he insisted, "love is the law of life and the means of redemption — the way of the crucified Messiah."
Christ's love commits and purifies us
"Catholic culture must counter the false realism that rearms minds, words and nations, with the realism of mercy which recognizes that there can be no enemies, and that everyone, even those who oppose us, is a brother or sister to be looked in the eye and encountered in truth."
While he acknowledged that sin certainly exists, he said Christ’s redeeming love is stronger.
Christ's love, he emphasized, "commits us to purifying our thoughts, interests, habits, associations, plans and investments — indeed, every aspect of our lives – from all that the culture of power has tainted."
Glory of God must shine forth, unjust power relationships must be 'unmasked'
The Pope observed that there is no shortage of expertise, responsibility and resources among those gathered at the meeting to place at the service of an authentic conversion of a people.
“Obsession with preserving one’s glory, one’s ‘dignity’, one’s influence," he said, "must not play a part in our sentiments. We must seek the glory of God, and this does not coincide with our own."
Pope Leo is the second pontiff to personally take part in the event since Pope John Paul II (@Vatican Media)
He said that the glory of God that shines forth in the humility of the cave of Bethlehem or in the dishonor of Christ’s cross always surprises us.
Accordingly, he urged all faithful to join in freeing "our lives from suspicion, culture from arrogance, education from ideology, work from the idolatry of profit, and technology and finance from the business of death."
"Beginning with the organizations that we have created and in which we work," the Pope invited, "let us expose unjust structures of power that lie at the root of poverty, inequality, war and environmental disasters."
Need for courageous pioneers
In this context, Pope Leo also called for disarming technological development when it becomes pervasive and destructive.
"We need courageous pioneers who, by first changing course in their own lives," he insisted, "can make the transformation required of everyone convincing and credible."
"Let there not be only those who fan the flames of weariness and despair; let there also be those who rekindle dreams and visions!" Pope Leo said, recognizing the two paths are incompatible, "because one feeds upon division, alienation and despair, while the other serves the Kingdom of God and his justice."
The Holy Father acknowledged the great participation of young people present, many of whom are volunteers.
"You are a sign that the future is promising, and not a threat!" he insisted, despite the many who, he said, no longer believe this, both among adults and among young people.
"Silently, “the love that moves the sun and the other stars” still inspires hope," the Pope said, stressing how intensely he experienced this meeting with young people during his Apostolic Journeys to Lebanon, Africa and Spain.
'Young people, put yourselves on the line!'
"Love moves us, urges us on, awakens us from our slumber," and "inspires new vocations and calls us to take risks," Pope Leo said.
Thus, he appealed, "do not be afraid to give yourselves fully! Open yourselves to a truly catholic spirit, broadening your networks beyond every overly narrow sense of belonging. Let your Movement, your groups and your communities be a springboard from which you can dive into the whole of reality."
With this sentiment, he said, "resist whatever would separate you from brothers and sisters of different cultures, sensibilities and backgrounds, especially the poorest among them. Instead, go forth to meet everyone!"
"In every corner of the world, especially on the margins and among those who suffer," he said, "you will find people who are ready to help build the civilization of love."
Do not allow anyone to diminish that God is love
The Pope cautioned against this love being diminished, and stressed that in love there is never coercion, indoctrination; never seduction, deception or recruitment.
"Love exists only in freedom, in genuine encounter and in the generous gift of self." he said.
“Love exists only in freedom, in genuine encounter and in the generous gift of self.”
Young people's adherence to Christ
The Holy Father observed to young people how the world today seems astonished by their adherence to Christ, by the attraction you feel towards Him and his Word, and by your belonging to the Church.
"For many today, the very fact that you are Christians comes as a surprise! Yet, without fanfare, 'the word of the Lord sounded forth from you'," he said, quoting Saint Paul's letter to the community of Thessalonica, where he also told them: “Your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.”
"This is not a matter of numbers, although it is moving to see thousands of your peers seeking Baptism in societies considered among the most secularized in the world," but, he said, "a matter of freedom because the truth can be encountered only in freedom."
The Church grows by attraction
The Holy Father recalled that his predecessors have repeated on several occasions, “the Church does not engage in proselytism. Instead, she grows by ‘attraction’.”
Pope Leo acknowledged that we are human and often marked by limitation and sin. "Yet," he encouraged, "it is the Lord who always raises us up, both as individuals and as communities!"
With this encouragement, Pope Leo told those gathered, "always love the Church" and "love and safeguard the unity of the “community” through which Christ has reached you and draws you to himself."
“It is worth saying it again: ‘Always love the Church!’ Dear friends, love and preserve unity.”
The Pope closed reminding everyone present that a fundamental element in every Christian community is prayer, before inviting those present to join in praying the Lord's Prayer.
Rimini Meeting: Pope Leo follows in the footsteps of John Paul II
For more than 45 years, the Rimini Meeting has brought together people from different cultures, religions, and backgrounds, becoming a space for dialogue and the search for what unites us. On August 22, Pope Leo XIV will be the second pope, after St. John Paul II, to visit the Meeting in person.
By Fr. Łukasz Bankowski
The history of the Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples, also known as the Rimini Meeting, dates back to the late 1970s. Among a group of friends in Rimini who shared a Christian experience, a desire arose to discover and bring to others what was beautiful and good in contemporary culture. Thus, in 1980, the Meeting was born.
From the beginning, it was intended to be a place where people from different cultures and religions could meet, a space for building peace, coexistence, and friendship among peoples. At its foundation is the conviction that people are united by a desire for truth, goodness, beauty, and justice. Fr. Luigi Giussani, founder of the Communion and Liberation movement, referred to this common ground as the “elementary experience.”
People of different cultures and religions coming together
For more than four decades, representatives of the worlds of politics, economics, science, religion, culture, and sport have traveled to Rimini. Meetings, debates, exhibitions, and performances address both major social and political challenges and topics related to science, art, literature, and economics.
One of the Meeting’s defining characteristics remains its openness to dialogue. Christians from different denominations—Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and people who do not believe—all take part. Differences between people are not meant to be an obstacle, but an opportunity to meet, get to know one another, and search for the truth together.
The heart of the meeting
A distinctive feature of the event is the thousands of volunteers who travel to Rimini every year from Italy and other countries. They cover their own travel and accommodation costs. Once there, they prepare the venues, help run events, assist participants, and, after the Meeting ends, take care of dismantling the facilities.
Their work is intended as a concrete witness to selflessness—one of the values on which the event has been based from the beginning.
In the footsteps of Pope John Paul II
Pope St. John Paul II has a special place in the history of the Meeting.
The Polish pontiff personally attended the event on August 29, 1982, when it was being held for only the third time. Addressing the participants, he emphasized the significance of the very idea behind the gathering: “Meeting! A meeting of friendship! Friendship among peoples!” As he said, these words take on particular significance “in these often dramatic hours of world history.”
Pope John Paul II also recalled that the Meeting was born from the friendship of a group of Christians in Rimini and from the “passion for communication, creativity, and dialogue” that flows from lived faith. At the conclusion, he left the participants with a powerful appeal: “The civilization of love! (…) Brothers and sisters, build this civilization tirelessly!”
Pope Leo XIV will be the second pope to personally take part in the event. His presence on August 22 will therefore mark another important moment in the more than 45-year history of the gatherings in Rimini.
The Pope will visit the Meeting grounds and take time to greet its participants. During the remainder of his time in the city, he will also meet with people who are sick, people with disabilities, and people living in poverty who are receiving assistance from Caritas. The visit will conclude with the celebration of the Eucharist, which Pope Leo will preside over at Piazzale del Porto.
Pope Leo XIV greets visitors at the conclusion of the Angelus in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 20, 2025. Pope Leo will celebrate a public Mass every week of August after taking time to rest in Castel Gandolfo during the month of July. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
ROME (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV will celebrate a public Mass every week of August after taking time to rest in Castel Gandolfo during the month of July.
The Vatican published the pope’s liturgical schedule for August on July 30. It includes Masses in the Italian cities of Assisi and Rimini, along with celebrations for the liturgical feasts of the Transfiguration and the Assumption of Mary.
Pope Leo will also resume his weekly Wednesday general audiences in August, after suspending them for the month of July, and will lead five Angelus addresses during the month when many Europeans are on vacation.
Here is a look at the pope’s schedule for the rest of the summer.
Celebrating the Year of St. Francis in Assisi
Pope Leo will celebrate Mass in Assisi on Aug. 6 for the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The 10:30 a.m. liturgy in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels will be offered for participants in the “Go! Franciscan Youth Meeting,” a four-day meeting of young people ages 18 to 33 from across Europe.
The pope is scheduled to travel to Assisi by helicopter that morning, where he will meet with young people in the Piazza Santa Maria degli Angeli and greet representatives of the Franciscan orders before celebrating Mass in the basilica.
The visit to the birthplace of St. Francis is part of the Church’s celebration of a special jubilee year marking the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death. It also coincides with the annual celebration for the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, a 16th-century church built over the small chapel where St. Francis founded the Franciscan order.
Each year during the first week of August, pilgrims to the basilica can receive a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, recalling St. Francis’ mystical experience there in 1216, when he asked Christ to grant complete remission of sins to all who, having repented and confessed, prayed within the church.
Solemnity of the Assumption in Castel Gandolfo
Pope Leo will return to Castel Gandolfo, where he spent much of July, to celebrate Mass for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Aug. 15, at 10 a.m. in the parish of St. Thomas of Villanova. He will also lead a special Angelus address at noon to mark the Marian feast.
The pope will begin the day with a pastoral visit to the Republic of San Marino, a landlocked microstate on the Italian Peninsula and the third-smallest independent state in Europe after Vatican City and Monaco. Its capital sits atop a mountain and traces its origins to a settlement founded by St. Marinus in the fourth century.
In the afternoon, Pope Leo will travel to the seaside town of Rimini, where he will take part in the Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples, an annual gathering organized by Communion and Liberation, a Catholic lay movement with roots in Italy. He will be the first pope to attend the event, known informally as the Rimini Meeting.
Pope Leo will celebrate Mass with Catholics of the Rimini Diocese at 6:30 p.m. local time in the city’s port.
A return to Castel Gandolfo
Pope Leo will return to Castel Gandolfo once more at the end of the month to celebrate Mass and lead a procession at the Church of Our Lady of the Lake on Aug. 29, at 6 p.m.
Pope’s schedule for Assisi visit and liturgical celebrations in August
The Holy See Press Office releases the schedule for Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Assisi on August 6, where he will celebrate Mass with the young people participating in the “Go! Franciscan Youth Meeting 2026.”
By Isabella H. de Carvalho
On Thursday, August 6, Feast of the Transfiguration, Pope Leo XIV will make a pastoral visit to the Italian town of Assisi, where he will gather with hundreds of young people, celebrate Mass, and meet local authorities and Church representatives.
His visit will see him meet with young people participating in the "Go! Franciscan Youth Meeting,” taking place in Assisi on August 3-6.
According to the schedule released by the Holy See Press Office on Thursday, Pope Leo will leave the Vatican at 8:00 AM by helicopter and arrive in Assisi at 8:30 AM, where he will be welcomed by the Archbishop of Assisi, Felice Accrocca, and Italian civil authorities.
He will then go to the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, where he will meet with Ministers General of the Franciscan Orders, before gathering with young people in the Square of St. Mary of the Angels at 8:45 AM and answering three of their questions.
Following the event, the Pope will greet representatives of the Franciscan Order – including the members of the national committee that organized the events for the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death – in the cloister of the convent at 9:15 AM.
Then, at 10:30 AM, Pope Leo XIV will celebrate Mass in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, and at the end a young person will thank him for this meeting.
The Pope’s helicopter is scheduled to leave Assisi at around 12:15 PM and land in the Vatican at 12:45 PM.
Young people meet St. Francis
The “Go! Franciscan Youth Meeting” is an international gathering in Assisi aimed at young people aged between 18 and 33 – believers and non-believers – from all over Europe. It will feature workshops, prayers, a music competition and more.
2026 marks the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death, and throughout the year in Assisi there have been many events, liturgies and gatherings to mark this commemoration.
Pope's other appointments in August
The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff also released the Pope’s various other liturgical appointments throughout the month of August.
Other than in Assisi, the Pope will also celebrate Mass at 10:00 AM on Saturday, August 15, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the Pontifical Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo.
On Saturday, August 22, Pope Leo XIV will embark on a pastoral visit to the central Italian city of Rimini, to participate in the 47th edition of the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples. He will celebrate Mass in the city’s port at 6:30 PM.
Then, on Saturday, August 29, the Pope will celebrate Mass and lead a procession at 6:00 PM at the Church of Our Lady of the Lake in Castel Gandolfo.
