Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino, Bishop of Assisi, confirmed that Pope Francis will visit the city of his namesake, Assisi, on October 4th.
Archbishop Sorrentino stated that he received news of the Holy Father’s visit from Archbishop Angelo Becciu, Substitute for General Affairs in the Secretariat of State, in a letter sent today. The Bishop of Assisi thanked Pope Francis on behalf of his diocese and the bishops of the surrounding dioceses.
“The diocese of the Poverello (Poor One) rejoices for this expression of attention and benevolence,” Archbishop Sorrentino said.
“Together with the other regional dioceses embarking on the path to set alight the votive lamps to the Patron Saint of Italy, and conveying the sentiments of the Children of Francis from the different Orders, as well as of the civil and regional authorities, we would like to express our thanks and our fervent expectation to the Holy Father.”
The Archbishop entrusted the Holy Father’s ministry to St. Francis of Assisi as well as the “moral and civil path of our nation.”
Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, also confirmed the Holy Father’s visit to Assisi. “The schedule of the Holy Father’s visit to Assisi will be released at a later time,” Fr. Lombardi confirmed.
A Man of Poverty and Peace
After his election, Pope Francis explained in his first audience with journalists in Rome, why he chose the name of the “Poor One of Assisi.” Upon confirmation that he had received the majority of votes to the papacy, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Archbishop Emeritus of Sao Paolo and friend of the Holy Father, told the newly elected Pope: “Don’t forget the poor.”
“And those words came to me: the poor, the poor,” Pope Francis told journalists on March 16th. “Then, right away, thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi. Then I thought of all the wars, as the votes were still being counted, till the end. Francis is also the man of peace. That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi.”
Pope Francis went on to say during his first audience that as a man of poverty and peace, St. Francis was one who loved creation, a saint with the spirit of a poor man. “How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor!”, he exclaimed.
