In Borgo Laudato si’, in the Pontifical Gardens of Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV he shared lunch with around two hundred people in difficulty assisted by the Diocese of Rome, including 35 children. A day of welcome and brotherhood, experienced not as a simple moment of solidarity, but as the concrete sign of a Church that wants to be close to the least and build new relationships.
In the midst of the greenery of the 55 hectares of Borgo Laudato si’a place created to combine care of the common home, training and human promotion, the Pontiff chose the simplicity of the shared table to remember that closeness to the least is not an occasional gesture, but the heart of the Christian mission.
«I came without a speech, but with hunger», said Leo XIV before lunch, «hunger for authentic charity, hunger for a Church that truly knows how to open its doors, welcome and receive everyone; where there is love for everyone and where no one is an enemy, where we all know how to experience reconciliation, forgiveness, peace.”
Among the guests who dined at the table with the Pope were Irene from Tanzaniarefugee, with her two children aged 7 and 5. Then a gentleman from Ukraine who was welcomed by a Roman parish. At the same table Isabel who comes from Peru, also a refugee, studies at university and is assisted by the Astalli Centre. Then Conde from Sudan who followed the pastry making training and work course at Borgo Laudato si’.
Finally at the table with Leone there was also an Italian gentleman followed by a parish from Rome. The other diners are seated at a single table several tens of meters long. On the menu, steaming amatriciana pasta, roast veal and strawberries with cream.
A moment of lunch
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A table that becomes a bridge
The day, promoted by the Diocese of Rome, saw the participation of vulnerable people, families accompanied by support services, children and charity workers. The cardinal introduced the meeting Fabio Baggio, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and general director of the Laudato si’ Higher Education Center, Cardinal Baldo Reinavicar general for the Diocese of Rome, and monsignor Luis Marín de San Martínprefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.
In his speech Leo XIV took up one of the most recurring symbols of his pontificate: that of the bridge. Not an abstract image, but a concrete call to create links between people, communities and society: «And today we would also like to build a bridge with all of you, with your families and with the society in which we want to live», explained the Pontiff.
A bridge that starts from sharing and listening, but which must also lead to a deeper change. Because, he recalled, the response to poverty cannot be limited to the emergency: we need to question ourselves about the roots of inequalities.
«Eliminate the causes of injustices»
For Leo The Pope recalled the need to «eliminate the causes of poverty, injustice and everything that still fuels dishonesty in the world». This, he underlined, is the face of the Church called to be close to the men and women of our time: a community that does not build walls, but relationships; which does not divide between “us” and “them”, but recognizes in every person a dignity to be safeguarded: “This is the Church we want to be”, stated Pope Leo.
The message of Borgo Laudato si’
The choice of location is not random. Borgo Laudato si’ represents the project intended to promote a development model based on harmony between man, environment and work, inspired by the encyclical of the same name by Pope Francis on the care of the common home. Here, between nature and hospitality, lunch with the most vulnerable people becomes a concrete image of that “outgoing” Church capable of meeting the existential peripheries.
