“We are called, then, to draw near to the poor, to encounter them, to meet their gaze, to embrace them and to let them feel the warmth of love that breaks through their solitude.” — Pope Francis, homily at Mass, St. Peter’s Basilica, on the first World Day of the Poor, November 19, 2017
By Gary Gately
Surely, Pope Francis smiled down from heaven Sunday as his successor, Pope Leo XIV, carried on his legacy, sharing lunch, laughter, warm embraces and lots of love with some 1,300 guests from across the globe — the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the disabled, the marginalized, the migrants and refugees who fled poverty hunger and wars.
The Vatican transformed its Paul VI Audience Hall into a vast dining room for the event, marking the Catholic Church’s ninth annual World Day of the Poor, started by Pope Francis, during the Jubilee of the Poor over the weekend.
Before the meal — lasagna, breaded chicken cutlets with potatoes, fresh fruit from Naples and the traditional Italian dessert babà, a Neapolitan cake soaked in syrup — Pope Leo prayed: “May the Lord bless the gifts we are about to receive, bless the life of each one of us, our loved ones, and all those who have accompanied us on our journey. Let us invoke the Lord’s blessing upon those who suffer from violence, war and hunger, and may we celebrate this feast today in a spirit of fraternity.”
He thanked volunteers from the Congregation of the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul, which celebrates its 400th anniversary this year and organized the lunch, and sisters of the Missionaries of Charity, founded by St. Mother Teresa, for providing full table service.
And, of course, Pope Leo praised his predecessor, saying: “With great joy, we gather this afternoon for this meal on this day that was so dearly desired by my beloved predecessor, Pope Francis. Let’s have a big round of applause for him.”
The hall erupted in loud applause, and some of the guests fondly recalled sharing meals with Pope Francis, the Argentine Jesuit who died in April at age 88.
The sweet sounds of classical and traditional Neapolitan music filled the hall, performed by an orchestra of 100 young people from Naples — part of the Nova Opera Foundation, inspired by Catholic tradition and embracing music as means of dialogue between faith and society and among different religions and cultures.
Guests came from far and near — the Rome area and foreign countries including Nigeria, Ukraine, Cuba and Spain. Many of the guests had been among 6,000 people, including members of organizations that assist them, who attended a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica earlier Sunday.
The guests shared with Vatican News stories of heartbreak but also hope borne of faith.
The Missionaries of Charity had brought several mothers from their house on the outskirts of Rome, where women in crisis find temporary refuge.
One of the women from the house nursed her infant, her face at once etched with fatigue and tenderness as she gazed into her baby’s eyes.
Another, from southern Italy, had lost her job after being diagnosed with a disability. “I worked in a cafeteria,” she said. “They said I couldn’t handle it, and that was that. I’m 60 now. I manage somehow. It’s not easy, but I care about decency. One must always smile.”
One assistant from a Franciscan homeless shelter in Assisi explained her work this way: “The meaning of life is to help others. The poor are the Gospel made flesh.”
At another table, a woman from Somalia recounted arriving in Rome at age 12 and finding refuge with the Missionaries of Charity, who helped her get back on her feet, and recalled her great joy when Pope Benedict XVI baptized her in 2010.
Now she’s battling a serious illness, but she’s still quick with a joke and prays she recovers so she can get back to work.
Another guest at the lunch, a woman from the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, said her cousins are fighting at the front in Ukraine’s war against Russia, which launched its full-scale, unprovoked invasion of the neighboring country in February 2024.
“We go on,” the woman said. “What else can we do? I don’t know if I’ll ever go home again.”
Francesco Cardillo, an artist from the seaside town Gaeta, about 90 miles southeast of Rome, flipped through his sketchbook filled with black-ink drawings.
“My house was taken over; I was scammed,” he said. “I’d like to draw something for the pope. I came here with Pope Francis once. Now, the Pope is new.”
A few seats away, a woman from Chiclayo, Peru, where Leo had served for two decades as a missionary priest and bishop, explained that she’s a widow who lives with her mother and daughter, who’s in treatment to overcome addiction.
“We’ve been waiting for public housing for years,” the woman said. Now, we’ve moved up the list. We hope it works out. Faith helps us. I’m alive because of Jesus. Thank God there are still good people, people of goodwill.”
Pope Leo also followed the example of Francis, who made outreach to LGBTQ Catholics a hallmark of his 12-year pontificate, by inviting to the lunch a group of 48 transgender women from the seaside town of Torvaianica, about 25 miles south of Rome. The Vatican, through the papal almoner, Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, invited the women.
Representatives from Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican’s international charity network, religious, and lay volunteers provided guests information on getting assistance during their struggles.
At the end of the lunch, the Vincentian Family of Italy — which comprises the Mission of Saint Vincent de Paul, the Daughters of Charity and numerous other charitable organizations — gave each guest a “St. Vincent’s Backpack” containing food and hygiene products as a sign of continued accompaniment.
A young man from the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire, who is not Catholic, said: “That doesn’t matter. It’s beautiful. You feel at home.”
See related story: Pope Leo delivers appeal to world leaders: “Listen to the cry of the poorest. There can be no peace without justice.”