A discreet visit, almost hidden, but with a strong symbolic value. Pope Leo XIV arrived unexpectedly at the Abbey of Montecassino on Monday morning to meet the monastic community and stop in prayer at the tomb of Saint Benedict, the father of Western monasticism and patron saint of Europe.
Far from the spotlight and the official calendar of public commitments, the Pontiff, who is spending the summer rest period in Castel Gandolfochose one of the most significant places in European Christian history to entrust to the saint of Norcia an intention that has permeated his teaching since the beginning of his pontificate: peace. According to what was communicated by the Holy See Press Office, Pope Leo has entrusted to Saint Benedict «the plea for peace in those regions of the world marked by blood and conflict». A prayer pronounced in a place that still bears the wounds of war: the abbey was in fact destroyed by Allied bombing in February 1944 during the Second World War and subsequently rebuilt.
A moment of the visit
(HANDLE)
The place where the war left a wound
Montecassino is not only one of the most important spiritual centers of Christianity. It is also a living memory of the tragedies of the twentieth century. Its destruction, during the battle between the Allied forces and the German troops, has become one of the most dramatic symbols of the human cost of conflicts. Precisely for this reason the Pope’s choice takes on a particular meaning: praying for peace on the tomb of Saint Benedict means returning to the roots of a tradition which saw monasteries as places of culture, dialogue and reconstruction after the devastations of history. In the Prologue of his Rule, Saint Benedict recalls the verse of Psalm 33: “Seek peace and pursue it”. Words that today resonate with particular force in the face of the wars that continue to bloodied various areas of the world, from Ukraine to the Middle East.
The meeting with the monks and the community lunch
During the private visit, Leo XIV met the Benedictine community of the abbey and shared lunch with the religious. A simple and fraternal moment, before returning to Castel Gandolfo. The visit is part of the pilgrimages of the Popes to the places of the great monastic tradition. Montecassino was a destination for Peter’s successors several times: by Paul VI, who in 1964 proclaimed Saint Benedict the patron saint of Europe right in front of the ruins of the rebuilt abbey, up to his successors who saw in the monastery a spiritual point of reference for the continent.
Montecassino and Benedict’s message: building after the rubble
The presence of Leo XIV also comes a few days after the delivery of the “Pacis Nuntius 2026” Award assigned to Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, which took place in Montecassino. An award given to those who are committed to peace and dialogue in a land, the Middle East, marked by violence and division. In the silence of the crypt where Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica rest, the Pope has thus once again entrusted one of the great urgencies of the present to prayer. A short gesture, far from the public scene, but full of a message: even in places marked by ruins a new story of reconciliation can be born.
