“A simple and private pilgrimage…”Pope Francis is to visit the Porziuncola chapel at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi on August 4, to mark the 800th anniversary of the Pardon of Assisi which falls in the Extraordinary Year of Mercy.
The pope, the Franciscan Friars Minor have announced, will go on “a simple and private pilgrimage to the papal Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, where he will pray and offer the gift of his word.”
The visit was announced by the Bishop of Assisi, Mgr. Domenico Sorrentino, the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, Fr. Michael A. Perry, the provincial minister, Fr. Claudio Durighetto and the Custodian of the Porziuncola, Fr. Rosario Gugliotta, “in communion with the entire Franciscan Family.”
The news was announced today by the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, Mgr. Rino Fisichella.
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The Friars Minor of Assisi recalled that the pope recently spoke about the Porziuncola. “St. Francis’ spiritual journey began in San Damiano, but his most beloved place, the beating heart of the Order, the place where he founded it and where he finally surrendered his life to God, was the Porziuncola, the “small portion of land,” a little corner within the Mother of the Church; within Mary, who will remain a blessed to all generations because of her strength of faith and the fact that she lived her love for the Lord so fully.”
“The particular Church of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino, and all the Franciscan community, exult and thank Pope Francis, entreating the Lord to give this event all of his blessings,” the statement adds.
