The Italian hilltown of Assisi is anticipating a visit from Pope Leo XIV during the special Jubilee Year of St. Francis as the city celebrates the 800th anniversary of the death of its most famous saint.
Assisi
Eight centuries ago, St. Francis of Assisi composed a poem that remains familiar today, inspiring hymns, art, and the titles of two of the late Pope Francis’ teaching documents on integral ecology.
A new statue depicting Blessed Carlo Acutis is a message that conveys to the world that the Catholic Church is not an old institution but a young and vibrant Church with a relevant message for today’s culture, the statue’s sculptor said.
For centuries, pilgrims came to Assisi to walk in the footsteps of a saint who preached to birds, embraced poverty, and wandered the hills barefoot. But today, many arrive in search of a different model of holiness: that of a teenager in Nike sneakers who built websites and coded for Christ.