For 45 minutes, Pope Leo XIV walked along the streets of Rome leading the traditional procession of the Blessed Sacrament on the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, celebrated on June 22, 2025.
Some 20,000 people attended the procession, which was preceded by a Mass at the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Pope Leo XIV walked the nearly exact one mile route between the Basilica of St. John Lateran and the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
Under a large, richly embroidered canopy held by eight bearers, the Holy Father advanced at a prayerful pace, holding in his hands a golden monstrance encrusted with precious stones. The monstrance is the liturgical object used to display at the center Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
During the Mass he had just celebrated in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Leo XIV offered a meditation on the Eucharist, the Real Presence of Christ.
He also spoke of the procession:
The procession that we are about to undertake is a sign of that journey. Together, as shepherds and flock, we will feed on the Blessed Sacrament, adore him and carry him through the streets.
In doing so, we will present him before the eyes, the consciences and the hearts of the people. To the hearts of those who believe, so that they may believe more firmly; to the hearts of those who do not believe, so that they may reflect on the hunger present within them and the bread that alone can satisfy it.
The Mass had begun at 5 pm so as it concluded the late afternoon temperatures were still at almost 90°F in the Italian capital. The long procession stretched out, composed mainly of cardinals, bishops, and canons of the Lateran. Thousands of Romans came to participate in this ancient and popular tradition.
Arriving at St. Mary Major shortly after 7 p.m., Pope Leo XIV placed the monstrance on an altar at the steps of the basilica. Kneeling, he prayed before the Blessed Sacrament and incensed it. Then, turning toward the large crowd gathered in the square, he blessed them with the Eucharist.
The feast of Corpus Christi originated in the 13th century in Liège, inspired by the mystical visions of St. Juliana of Cornillon.
The first public procession of the Blessed Sacrament took place in Cologne in 1279. The public procession of the Blessed Sacrament, encouraged already by John XXII in 1318, became a tradition of the feast of Corpus Christi.
