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This Saturday afternoon, in Assisi, Francis celebrated Mass and signed his third encyclical, thanking the First Section of the Secretary of State for the work done in preparing the document.
Debora Donnini / Mariangela Jaguraba – Vatican News
It is a small place, a place of retreat, but visited every year by thousands of people from the four corners of the earth. In the crypt of the lower Basilica, Pope Francis celebrated mass and at the end, in the tomb of Pobrezinho de Assis, he signed his third encyclical, “Fratelli tutti”, dedicated to fraternity and social friendship, essential values to restore the hope and encouragement to a humanity wounded also by the Covid-19 pandemic. An encyclical that takes its name from the words written by Saint Francis and that will be presented this Sunday (04/10).
Thanks to the First Section of the Secretary of State
Pope Francis did not deliver the homily. Prayer, silence and simplicity marked this visit which, at the wish of the Pope for the health situation, was carried out without the participation of the faithful, following the words of the liturgy dedicated to Saint Francis, on the eve of the Feast of the Poor of Assisi. Shortly before signing, the Pope thanked the First Section of the Secretary of State that worked on the drafting and translation of the Encyclical.
Now I sign the Encyclical that Monsignor Paolo Braida, in charge of translations and also of the Pope’s speeches, takes to the altar in the First Section. He oversees everything and that is why I wanted him to be here today and bring me the Encyclical. Two translators came with him: Fr. Antônio, a translator from the Portuguese language, who translated from Spanish into Portuguese; and Father Cruz who is Spanish and supervised a bit the other translations of the original in Spanish. I do this as a token of gratitude to the entire First Section of the Secretary of State who worked on this writing and translation.
This is the fourth time the Pope has gone to Assisi
Pope Francis arrived in the early afternoon at the Sacred Convent, adjacent to the Basilica, which since 1230 houses the remains of the Umbrian saint and bears his name. The Pontiff was received by the custodian of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, Fr. Mauro Gambetti. The Eucharistic celebration was attended by a score of friars, some religious, along with the bishop of the diocese, Domenico Sorrentino, and Cardinal Agostino Vallini, papal legate for the basilicas of San Francisco and Santa Maria dos Anjos, in Assisi. This is the fourth time that Pope Francis has gone to Assisi.
