Rome.- Pope Leo XIV had lunch this Saturday with a hundred poor people and migrants at the “Borgo Laudato Si’”, the project launched by the Vatican for the defense of biodiversity, in the Pontifical Gardens of Castel Gandolfo, where he is spending a few days on vacation, and asked that “the causes of poverty may be eliminated”.
After having celebrated mass, he sat at one of the round tables that were set up for the occasion, in the shade of the trees of this paradisiacal place, together with people in vulnerable situations and some migrants, and delivered a brief speech.
“I come without a prepared speech, but with hunger; with a hunger for justice, for authentic charity; with a hunger for a Church that truly knows how to open its doors, to welcome and receive everyone, where there is love for all and where no one is an enemy, where we know each other, live reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace,” he said.
The pontiff called for a society where “one can live with justice, where the causes of poverty can be eliminated, where the causes of the injustices that still exist in our world can be eliminated.”
He also wished to build “a different world, a world of hope, a world that is often shattered by violence, hatred, and discrimination. Let us work together. Let us always try to be this experience of a Church of justice, peace, and love,” he added.
The Pope already celebrated this initiative on August 17, 2025, when he had lunch with people experiencing poverty from the diocese of Albano, to which Castel Gandolfo belongs, and this year it was the turn of the diocese of Rome.
Each year, a diocese will be invited to participate with people in situations of poverty, refugees, migrants, and other socially vulnerable groups. The menu for this Saturday was pasta alla amatriciana, roast veal, chicory, and strawberries with cream.
Leo XIV moved last Sunday to the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo, about 30 kilometers from Rome, to begin a rest period that will last until July 27.
During these weeks, all general, private, and special audiences will be suspended, so his schedule only includes the recitation of the Angelus on Sundays this month in the town’s Liberty Square.
General audiences are scheduled to resume as usual on Wednesday, August 5.
The American pope thus repeats his month of vacation in this town, although on this occasion he will reside in the apostolic palace and not in the Barberini villa, where he spent last summer and usually goes every Tuesday to spend his day of rest.
