This afternoon, Pope Leo XIV made a surprise appearance in the Vatican Basilica to greet the participants in the Jubilee Pilgrimage for Peace in Africa of the African Ambassadors Accredited to the Holy See and to Italy. The Pope underlined the great witness that the African continent offers to the whole world.
Vatican News
“This Holy Year invites all the baptised to seek hope but also to be signs of hope for humanity. And in this sense, the African continent offers the whole world a great witness.” This is how Pope Leo XIV addressed the participants in the Jubilee pilgrimage for peace in Africa of the African Ambassadors Accredited to the Holy See and to Italy, whom he met by surprise in the Vatican Basilica, at the end of the Mass celebrated this evening at the Altar of the Chair, by Cardinal Francis Arinze, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson and by Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, Secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelisation.
Walking together, united, at the service of others
Speaking spontaneously in English, the Pope stressed that it is our faith that gives us strength and allows us to see the light of Jesus Christ in our lives and to understand how important it is to live our faith, not just on Sundays, not just during a pilgrimage, but every day. To fill us with the hope that only Jesus Christ can give us, so that we can continue to walk together united as brothers and sisters to praise our God and to recognise that all that we have and all that we are is a gift from God and to put these gifts at the service of others.
Thank you for living your faith in Christ
Leo XIV greeted the ambassadors, their collaborators and all their families, thanking them for living their faith in Jesus Christ. The Jubilee pilgrimage has as its theme ‘Hope for Peace in Africa’ and was organised on the occasion of the 62nd International Day of Africa. Approximately 500 people attended the event.
I just came very briefly to greet all of you and to welcome you to Rome, to the Vatican, to Saint Peter’s Basilica, and to join you very briefly in this Jubilee pilgrimage during this Holy Year, a year which inspires us all and invites us all to look for hope, but also to be signs of hope.
How important it is that each and every baptized person feel himself or herself to be called by God to be a sign of hope in the world today.
It is our faith that gives us strength. It is our faith that enables us to see the light of Jesus Christ in our lives and to understand how important it is to live our faith. Not only on Sundays, not only during a pilgrimage, but each and every day so that we will be filled with the hope that only Jesus Christ can give us and that all of us together will continue to walk united as brothers and sisters to praise our God; to recognize that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God, and to place those gifts at the service of others.
I am very happy to be able to greet you all for just a very brief moment this afternoon, but to say to each and every one of you: Thank you for living your life, your faith in Jesus Christ.
You are already very well accompanied by their Eminences, Cardinal Turkson, Cardinal Arinze, as well as Archbishop Fortunatus, and all of us together, filled with the great witness that you are all giving and that the continent of Africa gives to the whole world.
We say, “Thank you, Lord Jesus, and may your name be praised.” God bless you all.