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On November 11, 2024, the Pope received the people who work in the service of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. He specifically asked priests who hear confessions there to “forgive everything” for the Catholic faithful who make the journey to the sacrament of reconciliation. He also expressed his desire that non-Christians who wish a blessing could receive it, including Muslims and people of other religions.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Everyone must feel welcomed
“Everyone, truly everyone, must feel welcomed in this great house,” Pope Francis told the technicians and partners of the Fabric of St. Peter, the department of the Roman Curia that manages the upkeep and life of one of the world's greatest basilicas.
Built on the very spot where the Apostle Peter is believed to have been buried, the basilica is visited by between 40,000 and 50,000 people every day, according to its head, Cardinal Gambetti, Archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica.
Despite the influx of thousands of tourists, St. Peter's strives to maintain a climate of prayer. Priests are on hand at all times to hear the confessions of the faithful.
In his address, departing from his prepared text, the Pope spoke to them, asking them to “forgive everything.”
“Everything, everything! Everything must be forgiven,” he insisted, asking them to limit their "preaching" and not to say, “You must [do this or that, Editor's note].”
The Pope said that confessors at St. Peter's have told him that many Muslims or people of other faiths “approach to ask for a blessing.”
“Always give everyone a blessing, and for those who want to go to confession: forgive everyone, everyone, everyone,” he insisted.
This “tutti, tutti, tutti” formula has been regularly repeated by Pope Francis in recent months. At the World Youth Day in Lisbon in the summer of 2023, it became a slogan for the hundreds of thousands of young Catholics who came from all over the world to pray with the Pope.
The basilica as a living place of faith
The Popes expressed his desire that the basilica be “for all visitors a living place of faith and history, a hospitable dwelling, a temple for the encounter with God and with the brothers and sisters who come to Rome from all over the world.”
In fact, at the start of his address he had described the basilica as a “house of prayer for all peoples.” That includes “those who have faith and those in search of faith; those who come to contemplate the artistic beauty of Rome and those who want to decipher its cultural codes.”
The Pope also emphasized that everything done to maintain and improve the basilica, including modern technology, must be at the service of people’s “journey as disciples.”
He proposed three criteria to guide the work of the Fabric of St. Peter: “the listening of prayer, the gaze of faith, the pilgrim's touch.” These are to help promote awareness of the Basilica as a “sacred place” that “narrates the faith” to today’s pilgrims.
