Pope Leo XIV used a lunch with 200 poor and vulnerable people at Castel Gandolfo on Saturday to outline his vision of a Church rooted in hospitality, justice and reconciliation, telling those gathered that the Catholic Church must remain open to all, particularly those living on society’s margins.
Hosting the gathering in the Pontifical Gardens on 11 July, the Pope set aside prepared remarks in favour of an impromptu reflection centred on solidarity with those living on the margins of society.
“I came without a prepared speech,” he told his guests, “but I did come with hunger—hunger for justice, hunger for genuine charity, hunger for a Church that truly knows how to open its doors, to welcome everyone; where there is love for all, and no one is an enemy, where all of us know how to live reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace.”
The event brought together around 200 people from the Diocese of Rome living in situations of hardship, including nearly 40 children. Refugees, single mothers with children, people with disabilities and others supported by diocesan charities spent the day at Borgo Laudato Si’ in Castel Gandolfo, a section of the papal estate that has been transformed into a centre dedicated to the principles of Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato si’. The day began with Holy Mass before touring the papal estate and sharing lunch with the Pontiff.
Guests were served traditional Italian dishes, including pasta all’amatriciana and roast veal, followed by strawberries with whipped cream.
During his remarks, Pope Leo told those gathered: “As you know well, one of the Pope’s titles is Pontiff—a builder of bridges. And today we too want to build a bridge with all of you, with your families, and with the society in which we want to live—a society marked by justice, where the causes of poverty and the injustices that still exist in our world can be overcome.”
“This is the Church we want to be,” His Holiness added.
Returning repeatedly to the image of a shared table, the Pope suggested that such encounters offer a model for overcoming social divisions.
“Whenever we come together, whenever we share this spirit of encounter around the same table—the one table where Jesus is also present among us—we are truly building a different world, a world of hope, a world that is a light in the midst of our own.”
The initiative formed part of the Pope’s stay in Castel Gandolfo, where Borgo Laudato Si’ has become an increasingly prominent setting for projects linking ecological stewardship with social outreach.
The programme combines care for creation with practical support for vulnerable communities through education, training and community initiatives.
Ahead of the lunch, Donatella Parisi, Communications Coordinator of the Laudato Si’ Higher Education Centre, described the gathering as a visible expression of a Church open to those most often overlooked.
She noted that the papal estate, long inaccessible to the public, has undergone a symbolic transformation in recent years.
“This place is especially precious because it was closed to the world for 400 years, then opened by Pope Francis and today is thrown wide open by Pope Leo,” she said. “It is now welcoming these people, who for us are the guests of honour.”
“The message is that the Church should always be open to everyone, especially those living on the existential peripheries,” she said, adding that Pope Leo “repeats this often”.
She also linked the initiative to the Pope’s recent visit to Lampedusa, saying the event reaffirmed that “the Church is open to everyone and is a family, a community, and a safe harbour for those who need it most.”
Rather than seeing those invited merely as recipients of charity, Parisi suggested they offer an important witness to the wider Church.
“In reality, what we experience every day here at the Laudato Si’ Village is that these very people are the ones who give. They give their all and they enrich the Village and, I would even say, the whole Church through their presence and their call for a different way of looking at society—a perspective that points to fragility as a new source of strength for our communities.”
The organisers hope the initiative will continue annually, welcoming participants from different dioceses each year. Last year’s gathering involved people from the Diocese of Albano, while this year’s guests came from Rome through diocesan charities and affiliated organisations.
Holy Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Fabio Baggio, Director General of the Laudato Si’ Centre for Higher Education, and concelebrated by Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.
