Visit to Assisi, 17 June 2007

Visit to Assisi, 17 June 2007

Pope Benedict XVI

Homily/Eucharistic Concelebration
During his Visit to Assisi on Sunday morning, 17 June, on the occasion of the Eighth Centenary of St. Francis' Conversion, the Holy Father presided at a Eucharistic Concelebration in the Square outside the Lower Basilica of St. Francis. He described Francis' life as a "great act of love."

Address to Clergy and Religious
On Sunday afternoon, 17 June, during his one-day Visit to Assisi to commemorate the Eighth Centenary of the Conversion of St. Francis, the Holy Father met clergy and Religious in the Cathedral of San Rufino. He spoke of the privilege of living in Assisi, the 'territory of grace."

Address to German Capuchins Poor Clares
On Sunday afternoon, 17 June, the Holy Father met with the Bavarian, German Capuchin Poor Clares in the Chapter Hall of the Sacro Convento. He invited the sisters to be internally conformed to Christ so that the Church may live within you.

Message to Friars Minor Conventual
In the afternoon of Sunday, 17 June, after having greeted the German Capuchin Poor Clares, Benedict XVI spoke to the participants in the General Chapter of the Friars Minor Conventual and the Community of the Sacro Convento in the Upper Basilica of St. Francis. The Holy Father observed that St. Francis saw himself as a penitent, in a "permanent state of conversion."

Address to Young People
Thousands of young people gathered in the Square in front of St. Mary of the Angels Basilica, on the plains of Assisi, on Sunday evening, 17 June, to meet with Pope Benedict XVI. He encouraged them to emulate St. Francis, "man of Christ and man of the Church."