Pope Leo XIV spends time witjh school children at Christmas concert

 

Pope Leo and the children at the Paul VI Primary School in Castel Gandolfo 

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• Pope Leo XIV
• christmas
• music
• peace
• children

Pope to school children: At Christmas, build peace and unity

Pope Leo XIV joins children at a school Christmas concert in Castel Gandolfo and invites those present to communicate to all the gift of love at Christmas.

By Tiziana Campisi

A special visit marked the eleventh edition of the Christmas concert InCanto, performed by the pupils of the Pontifical Paul VI School of Castel Gandolfo. Among those attending this afternoon was Pope Leo XIV. After leaving the nearby Villa Barberini, where he regularly stays on Tuesdays, the Pope visited the school and then joined the pupils and their families in the gymnasium for the musical performance.

The concert was an occasion for the children to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and to underline that true richness is not measured by what one receives, but by the peace one can generate within oneself and in relationship with others.

Christmas awakens joy and peace

The pupils, all dressed in jeans and white shirts, took their places on the tiered stage. Smiling and visibly moved, they performed a selection of Christmas carols. The melodies of Adeste fideles, Joy to the World, Noël Noël and Astro del ciel filled the festively decorated gymnasium, crowded with parents, teachers, and school staff.  The Bishop of Albano, Monsignor Vincenzo Viva, the President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, Monsignor Giordano Piccinotti, and the Pope were seated in the front row.

“At the end of the concert,” Pope Leo said, “It was beautiful to listen to Christmas songs in Italian, Latin, English and Spanish.” Hearing children sing in different languages, he said, helps everyone to understand that Christmas awakens joy and peace in everyone's heart. The Pope also expressed his gratitude for the invitation, adding, with a smile, that it had arrived “mysteriously” and that he was happy to have accepted it.

An invitation to do more for peace

Reflecting on one of the songs performed, with lyrics referring to “angels who bring love,” the Pope noted that the children themselves had brought love through their music. He recalled the words of Saint Augustine, who said that “the one who loves sings,” because love enables the heart to grasp what truly matters.

“God wished to communicate to all of us the gift of love: this is what Christmas is,” Pope Leo said, emphasising that God draws close to humanity, especially to the smallest and most vulnerable. He expressed the hope that this spirit, celebrated at Christmas, might be lived out not only in these days but throughout the year. Quoting the refrain of another song, the Pope added, “For us this is a great invitation: to do more to proclaim peace, love and unity in the world.”

Seeing God in the least among us

At the conclusion, Pope Leo offered his blessing to the children and their families, encouraging them to pray together and to open their hearts to recognise God’s presence, especially in the smallest ones.

The Pope was greeted with applause and joyful cheers. He received a tennis racket and the school uniform as gifts and posed for a commemorative photograph with the pupils before leaving.

The Pontifical Paul VI School

The Pontifical Paul VI School of Castel Gandolfo is a Catholic primary school located about 700 metres from Villa Barberini. Pope Paul VI promoted its construction as a gift to the local community, and it was inaugurated by the Pope himself on 12 September 1968. On that occasion, he highlighted the importance of Catholic education for children and young people.

Today, the school welcomes around 300 pupils and offers an educational programme inspired by Catholic principles, enriched by extracurricular activities including sports, music, foreign languages, civic education and food education.

Pope Francis meets students from the Orthodox traditions

 

Pope Francis receives students of the Catholic Committee for Cultural Collaboration with the Orthodox Churches and the Oriental Orthodox Churches  (Vatican Media)

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• POPE FRANCIS
• ORTHODOX CHURCH
• CHRISTIANS
• ECUMENISM

Pope to students: Share how Christ has won your heart

Pope Francis welcomes students of the Catholic Committee for Cultural Collaboration with the Orthodox Churches and the Oriental Orthodox Churches and encourages them to share with one another how Christ "won your hearts and laid hold of your lives' on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Committee's establishment.

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

"Studying here in Rome, you have a great opportunity to share with one another who Christ is for you, where you encountered Him, how He won your hearts and laid hold of your lives, and the variety of traditions by which you offer Him praise and acknowledge Him as your Lord."

This was at the heart of Pope Francis' remarks Friday morning in the Vatican to the students of the Catholic Committee for Cultural Collaboration with the Orthodox Churches and the Oriental Orthodox Churches on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Committee's establishment.

The Pope expressed his delight in welcoming them in the days leading up to the celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and at the beginning of this new year, which marks the Committee's milestone anniversary.

Serving One Body of Christ

The Committee provides students from the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches the opportunity to complete their formation at Catholic academic institutes, in order then to return to their own communities and to share the knowledge and experience they have gained. 

In this way, in the name of the whole Catholic Church, the Pope said, they offer "a concrete and impartial service" that benefits the sister Churches of the East and contributes to the preparation of clergy and laity who, "thanks to their studies, will serve the mission of the one Body of Christ."

Vital and direct contact with concrete communities, in which "all share the same desire to follow the one Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to serve His Church," Pope Francis underscored, "helps not only the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox students, but the Catholic ones as well, to overcome prejudices, to break down walls and to build bridges of dialogue and friendship."

"This is so important!" the Pope said. 

Diverse but united

The Pope said this makes him think of the early Christian communities, those first disciples who became Apostles, and to whom our traditions trace their origins. 

"If we look closely at them, we see that they were quite diverse: disciples of the Baptist, zealots, fishers, and tax collectors; vastly different in background, character, and sympathies! he said. "Yet it is hard to think of a group that was more united." 

"They found their cohesiveness in Jesus," he went on to explain. "Walking in His footsteps, they journeyed alongside one another."

“They found their cohesiveness in Jesus. Walking in His footsteps, they journeyed alongside one another.”

Christ has won our hearts

Their unity in charity, the Pope said, was cemented by the Holy Spirit, Who sent them far and wide, thus binding them all the more closely to one another. He told his "friends" to follow the same path, as they journey together in Christ's footsteps, guided by the same Spirit.

During their academic term in Rome, the Pope said, they should make the most of sharing how Christ has transformed their lives.

He called on them to share with one another, "Who Christ is for you, where you encountered Him, how He won your hearts and laid hold of your lives, and the variety of traditions by which you offer Him praise and acknowledge Him as your Lord." 

"On the basis of your fraternal sharing of this experience," the Pope shared, "I believe that our past histories, marred by mistakes and misunderstanding, sins and stereotypes, can gradually be healed, in as much as they are considered anew as part of a much greater story, that of fidelity to Christ, who 'loved the Church and gave Himself up for Her.'”

Prophecy of charity, seedbed of unity

"It is my hope," he said, "that, to the praise and glory of the Lord, these years may prove to be, through mutual acceptance and fraternal respect, dialogue, and sharing, a prophecy of charity and a seedbed of unity. "

This, he suggested, will do great good for Christians throughout the world, and for the world itself, "which greatly needs to see a blossoming of new seeds of peace and communion."

Pope Francis concluded by thanking them for their visit and encouraging them "to pursue [their] studies fruitfully, without ever neglecting [their] spiritual and pastoral aspects, which are essential for formation." The Holy Father also assured them of his prayers, and asked them to remember him in their own.