Pope Leo XIV says "your heart is a door, and Jesus is there looking for you" - "speak with Jesus, to bring to Jesus our worries, our difficulties, the pains we experience every day"
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Pope Leo XIV visited Torrevecchia in Rome just before 4:00 p.m., many have been waiting for him for hours in the square outside the Church of Santa Maria della Presentación. The parish priest Don Paolo Stacchiotti, who arrived here only a few months ago. The Pope is accompanied by the Cardinal Vicar of the Diocese of Rome, Baldo Reina, and Cardinal Francesco Montenegro, Archbishop Emeritus of Agrigento, is also present. In 1982, John Paul II celebrated Mass there in a garage; today, Leo XIV finds a modern structure built around the year 2000. There are also scouts and families accompanying their children on their journey of faith.
FULL TEXT of Pope Leo XIV during the Pastoral Visit on the
Third Sunday of Lent, March 8, 2026
______________________________
Meeting with young people at the sports field.jpeg)
Sometimes it's not so much we who need to seek Him: He is already seeking us. I say to the children: you've talked about First Communion, right? How many of you are making your First Communion? Let's see... There you go, what a great group! Great! It will be Jesus who comes to your home, into your heart, into your life. We must all be ready to open the door to find Jesus who awaits us. Today too, in the Mass, in the Gospel, we will hear about this beautiful encounter between Jesus and the woman, and Jesus is there, at the well; she comes looking for water, but Jesus offers the water of life. It's the same gift he offers to all of us, especially in Communion, in the Eucharist, but also in the community.
And just as we are gathered here this afternoon, so Jesus wants to come to us, to our homes, to our families, to our friends, even when we gather together in the parish, in groups, in various activities—charitable works—and above all in prayer. And how important it is for all of us to learn to pray. To listen to God, but also to speak with God, with the prayers we have memorized and that we always say, but also with our own words: to speak with Jesus, to bring to Jesus our worries, our difficulties, the pains we experience every day. Jesus is close to us. Let us open our eyes. Let us recognize that even in the person next to us, or in the person who is suffering, the person who has nowhere to live, nowhere to sleep, who is on the street, the sick person... Jesus is also present in those circumstances, and he asks us to bring what we have received to these people who are in need, who are in need.
So there's also this meaning: finding Jesus in our generosity, in our acts of charity, when we, in the various parish activities, work together as a community. And also in friendship, with friends we go to Jesus, and we bring others to Jesus. One of the beautiful things about this parish is that it's a kind of "garden" where people can come and find Jesus Christ, find a community of faith, find the help they need. And so all of us, in this sense, can participate in the parish's various activities to be a light, a witness in the world.
Finally, I would like to invite everyone to recognize that we can be peacemakers and promoters of reconciliation. How important this is!
Even to the youngest children: make peace with your friend, your classmates, when there are sometimes difficulties within the group, differences of opinion. We can seek and find agreement in a way—let's say—of peace, and not of war, not of violence—never—without bullying, in the many forms that exist even among children, among young people, among teenagers... Reject all those forms of violence, of hatred, things that cause division, and strive to be, all of us, promoters of peace, promoters of reconciliation in today's world. Thus, from an early age, we can all learn to be peacemakers, something truly necessary in our world today. So, thank you all! Thank you for this welcome! We will continue to celebrate together this presence of Christ among us! Thank you!
So...then we'll go, we'll continue to greet you too, those of you on this side. But we can pray for a moment and receive God's blessing. Let's say together:
“Our Father…”
Blessing. Best wishes to everyone!
Words of the Holy Father during the meeting with the elderly and sick
Greetings, good afternoon, and good evening, everyone! I'm happy to be here with you!
Today we are holding a small "conclave": two cardinals are beside me, accompanying me. His Eminence Montenegro, who always comes, and the Vicar, Cardinal Baldo. Then the future, almost already auxiliary bishop of Rome, Monsignor Stefano Sparapani, who is here with us. We greet them. I say "conclave" because a lady reminded me that today marks 10 months since I was called, elected to serve as Bishop of Rome. And so I thank God, I thank all of you for this beautiful welcome, truly! Thank you!
A word of thanks to all those who work in the diocesan Caritas, the parish Caritas: it is truly important to have these signs, which are signs of God's love for those who are often the most vulnerable: those who suffer, because of age, illness, social situations, because they have emigrated, because they lack the necessities of life.
At the same time, however, I would like to emphasize one thing: each of you, even the oldest, the sickest, the weakest, each of you has immense value, because we are all created in the image of God, we all share this dignity of being sons and daughters of God. And so often today's world would have us forget this fact, but this is not the case. And so your presence here this afternoon speaks volumes: it is a beautiful testimony to the fact that all of us, united as in a family, have immense value, because we are children of God, created in His image, loved by God, and therefore called, we too, to share this love with others. And so your voice, your presence, your prayers, even your suffering: all of this has enormous value in today's world.
Thank you all for speaking such a beautiful message about what it means to be children of God, disciples of Jesus Christ, men and women who desire to live as a family, and to live these great values found in the Gospel. So I'm very happy to be able to greet you this afternoon, and I encourage you to continue. Go forward, perhaps even with pain, age, illness, and so much suffering, knowing that you are loved by God, and that these gestures we see, so important, through Caritas and the parish, help us to truly be God's great family, the presence of his love, his closeness to all. Thank you so much!
We also ask for the intercession of Mary our Mother. We are in the Parish of the Presentation, and we pray, saying: "Hail, O Mary..."
Blessing
Best wishes. May God be with you always.
Third Sunday of Lent, March 8, 2026
______________________________
Meeting with young people at the sports field
Words of the Holy Father during the meeting with young people
Good evening everyone! And welcome back!
I am very happy to be here with you, in this parish of the Presentation, and thank you for this welcome!
The last question we heard—how to find God, Jesus, among us—is about something we all need to experience, but also to know how to seek. Somewhat coincidentally, just before leaving the house this afternoon, I picked up a book titled "Someone Knocks at Your Heart": your heart is a door, and Jesus is there looking for you.
Good evening everyone! And welcome back!
L'arrivo di Papa #LeoneXIV nella parrocchia romana di Santa Maria della Presentazione a Torrevecchia. Alle 16 l'incontro dei bambini e ragazzi nel campo sportivo, poi quello coi malati e gli anziani, alle 17 la Messa e poi l'incontro con il consiglio pastorale#VaticanNewsIT pic.twitter.com/9o1I8caPGx
— Vatican News (@vaticannews_it) March 8, 2026
I am very happy to be here with you, in this parish of the Presentation, and thank you for this welcome!
The last question we heard—how to find God, Jesus, among us—is about something we all need to experience, but also to know how to seek. Somewhat coincidentally, just before leaving the house this afternoon, I picked up a book titled "Someone Knocks at Your Heart": your heart is a door, and Jesus is there looking for you.
.jpeg)
Sometimes it's not so much we who need to seek Him: He is already seeking us. I say to the children: you've talked about First Communion, right? How many of you are making your First Communion? Let's see... There you go, what a great group! Great! It will be Jesus who comes to your home, into your heart, into your life. We must all be ready to open the door to find Jesus who awaits us. Today too, in the Mass, in the Gospel, we will hear about this beautiful encounter between Jesus and the woman, and Jesus is there, at the well; she comes looking for water, but Jesus offers the water of life. It's the same gift he offers to all of us, especially in Communion, in the Eucharist, but also in the community.
And just as we are gathered here this afternoon, so Jesus wants to come to us, to our homes, to our families, to our friends, even when we gather together in the parish, in groups, in various activities—charitable works—and above all in prayer. And how important it is for all of us to learn to pray. To listen to God, but also to speak with God, with the prayers we have memorized and that we always say, but also with our own words: to speak with Jesus, to bring to Jesus our worries, our difficulties, the pains we experience every day. Jesus is close to us. Let us open our eyes. Let us recognize that even in the person next to us, or in the person who is suffering, the person who has nowhere to live, nowhere to sleep, who is on the street, the sick person... Jesus is also present in those circumstances, and he asks us to bring what we have received to these people who are in need, who are in need.
So there's also this meaning: finding Jesus in our generosity, in our acts of charity, when we, in the various parish activities, work together as a community. And also in friendship, with friends we go to Jesus, and we bring others to Jesus. One of the beautiful things about this parish is that it's a kind of "garden" where people can come and find Jesus Christ, find a community of faith, find the help they need. And so all of us, in this sense, can participate in the parish's various activities to be a light, a witness in the world.
Finally, I would like to invite everyone to recognize that we can be peacemakers and promoters of reconciliation. How important this is!
Even to the youngest children: make peace with your friend, your classmates, when there are sometimes difficulties within the group, differences of opinion. We can seek and find agreement in a way—let's say—of peace, and not of war, not of violence—never—without bullying, in the many forms that exist even among children, among young people, among teenagers... Reject all those forms of violence, of hatred, things that cause division, and strive to be, all of us, promoters of peace, promoters of reconciliation in today's world. Thus, from an early age, we can all learn to be peacemakers, something truly necessary in our world today. So, thank you all! Thank you for this welcome! We will continue to celebrate together this presence of Christ among us! Thank you!
So...then we'll go, we'll continue to greet you too, those of you on this side. But we can pray for a moment and receive God's blessing. Let's say together:
“Our Father…”
Blessing. Best wishes to everyone!
Words of the Holy Father during the meeting with the elderly and sick
Greetings, good afternoon, and good evening, everyone! I'm happy to be here with you!
Today we are holding a small "conclave": two cardinals are beside me, accompanying me. His Eminence Montenegro, who always comes, and the Vicar, Cardinal Baldo. Then the future, almost already auxiliary bishop of Rome, Monsignor Stefano Sparapani, who is here with us. We greet them. I say "conclave" because a lady reminded me that today marks 10 months since I was called, elected to serve as Bishop of Rome. And so I thank God, I thank all of you for this beautiful welcome, truly! Thank you!
A word of thanks to all those who work in the diocesan Caritas, the parish Caritas: it is truly important to have these signs, which are signs of God's love for those who are often the most vulnerable: those who suffer, because of age, illness, social situations, because they have emigrated, because they lack the necessities of life.
At the same time, however, I would like to emphasize one thing: each of you, even the oldest, the sickest, the weakest, each of you has immense value, because we are all created in the image of God, we all share this dignity of being sons and daughters of God. And so often today's world would have us forget this fact, but this is not the case. And so your presence here this afternoon speaks volumes: it is a beautiful testimony to the fact that all of us, united as in a family, have immense value, because we are children of God, created in His image, loved by God, and therefore called, we too, to share this love with others. And so your voice, your presence, your prayers, even your suffering: all of this has enormous value in today's world.
Thank you all for speaking such a beautiful message about what it means to be children of God, disciples of Jesus Christ, men and women who desire to live as a family, and to live these great values found in the Gospel. So I'm very happy to be able to greet you this afternoon, and I encourage you to continue. Go forward, perhaps even with pain, age, illness, and so much suffering, knowing that you are loved by God, and that these gestures we see, so important, through Caritas and the parish, help us to truly be God's great family, the presence of his love, his closeness to all. Thank you so much!
We also ask for the intercession of Mary our Mother. We are in the Parish of the Presentation, and we pray, saying: "Hail, O Mary..."
Blessing
Best wishes. May God be with you always.
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