(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 11.16.2025).- At the heart of the 2025 Jubilee Year, the Congregation of the Mission marked its 400th anniversary with a deeply evangelical gesture: sharing a meal with the poorest alongside Pope Leo XIV during the 9th World Day of the Poor.
Before the Mass for the Jubilee of the Poor, Pope Leo XIV personally greeted Father Tomaž Mavrič, C.M., Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission and President of the Executive Board of the Vincentian Family, Juan Manuel Buergo Gómez, International President of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul; and Sister María Rosario Matranga, Visitatrix of the Daughters of Charity in the Province of Italy. He also met with several families benefiting from the global “13 Houses” project coordinated by the Famvin Homeless Alliance (FHA). The families present in Rome — from Australia, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Peru (Chiclayo), Syria, Senegal, and Ukraine — shared with the Holy Father their stories of resilience, hope and gratitude for the home they received from Vincentian Family.
In the homily of the Mass that the Pontiff celebrated in St. Peter’s Square, Leo XIV recalled that “poverty challenges Christians, but it also challenges all those in society who hold positions of responsibility. I therefore urge Heads of State and leaders of Nations to listen to the cry of the poorest. There can be no peace without justice, and the poor remind us of this in many ways: through their migration, as well as through their cry, so often suffocated by the myth of well-being and progress that does not take everyone into account and even forgets many people, leaving them to their fate.”
The following lunch, offered by the Congregation on behalf of all Vincentian missionaries worldwide, gathered 1,300 people living in poverty in the Paul VI Hall, invited by the Holy Father, who presided over the celebration. Father Tomaž Mavrič, C.M. accompanied the guests and the Pope in this visible sign of communion, hope, and service. Before blessing the table, the Pope expressed his gratitude to the Vincentian family for organizing the gathering and took the opportunity to congratulate the Congregation of the Mission on its 400th anniversary.
“The Jubilee of the Congregation could not be lived in any other way than by sharing with those most in need,” said Fr. Mavrič. “Celebrating 400 years of mission means renewing Saint Vincent de Paul’s desire to serve Christ in the poor, with simplicity, humility, and creative charity.”
Charity in action: serving and sharing
The meal was prepared by L. Perrotta Catering & Events Napoli–London and served at table by 70 Vincentian missionaries from Italy, Spain, Ireland, the United States, Panama, Ukraine, Slovenia, Slovakia, Eritrea, Madagascar, the Middle East, Portugal, and Poland, together with 130 members of the Vincentian Family from Italy, Spain, Lebanon, Ukraine, Ireland, Croatia, and Slovenia.
Lunch was lively, enriched with musical moments and classical pieces from the Neapolitan tradition, performed by 100 young people from the Rione Sanità district of Naples, participants in the educational programs Sanitansamble and Tornà a Cantà, promoted by the Nova Opera Foundation ETS. Their performances of classical pieces and Neapolitan melodies offered a message of joy and hope, symbolizing a charity that is also expressed through shared art and beauty.
At the end of the lunch, the Vincentian Family of Italy distributed to each guest the “St. Vincent Backpack,” filled with food and hygiene products, as a gesture of closeness and continued support.
A Jubilee of living hope
The celebration of the Jubilee of the Congregation of the Mission was experienced as a concrete expression of Vincentian charity, which seeks to make love a mission in movement.
In the words of the Superior General: “The Jubilee does not remain in the memory of the past; it is a call to look to the future with active hope. Let us continue to be pilgrims of hope alongside the poor, witnesses of a Gospel that becomes service and fraternity.”
With this encounter, the Congregation of the Mission reaffirms its commitment to continue evangelizing the poor in every corner of the world, faithful to the spirit of its founder, Saint Vincent de Paul, whose legacy continues to inspire millions of people to transform faith into works of love.
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