Pope visits with 35 priests at St. Henry parish in Rome
Vatican news
Pope Francis makes a pastoral visit to the parish of Saint-Henri, in the 11th prefecture of Rome, where he meets with 35 priests and Auxiliary Bishop Daniele Salera.
By Salvatore Cernuzio
The Pope resumed his periodic visits to the parishes of the diocese of Rome on Friday evening.
Around 4 p.m., he went to the northeast of the Italian capital to meet the priests of the 11th prefecture of the Saint-Henri parish, in the Casal Monastero district.
The Holy See Press Office announced the visit on Friday.
Pope Francis began making periodic visits to his diocese again in September 2023 after a pandemic-induced hiatus.
These visits represent a continuation of his “Mercy Fridays” during the 2015 Jubilee of Mercy, which saw the Pope visit parishes on the outskirts of Rome.
Priests listen to the Pope
Welcoming neighborhood marked by difficulties
Saint-Henri parish, the fourth visited by the pope in recent months, was built between 1997 and 1998 in a modern style with a wooden structure, surrounded by parks and playgrounds and various medieval remains.
It is located in the 11th Prefecture of the Diocese, in a small, welcoming neighborhood with sparse traffic where the noise of transport does not seem intrusive.
Local residents, however, seem to suffer from a general feeling of abandonment and neglect towards the area.
Conversation with the priests
Pope Francis arrived in his usual compact car and was greeted by Mgr Daniele Salera, Father Massimiliano Memma, parish priest, and 35 priests from the Prefecture.
The Pope held a closed-door dialogue with priests on pastoral issues facing the region.
During his meeting with the priests, around fifty local residents gathered to greet the Pope as he left the parish.
They were mainly grandparents, women and schoolchildren, as well as several nuns who work in the parish.
Bishop Salera describes the area to the Pope
Visit of John Paul II
Pope Francis is the second Pope to visit St. Henry Parish after Pope St. John Paul II, who in February 2002 celebrated Mass on the first Sunday of Lent (it was the 301st Roman parish visited by the Polish Pope ).
“Your community is young,” Pope John Paul II said at the time, “largely made up of newly formed families, settled in the neighborhood over the last decade… Many children and young people populate it, brightening it up. “. and make it alive. »
The Polish pope said the region had endured over time, despite the lack of primary and secondary schools, built only in recent years.
Pope Francis with priests
Vatican news
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