LUNCH WITH THE POPE

July 11, 2026

CASTEL GANDOLFO

Pope Leo XIV’s Summer Residence

a lunch with 200 “vulnerable people” from the Diocese of Rome

“I came without a prepared speech, but I did come with hunger — hunger for justice, hunger for genuine charity, hunger for a Church that truly knows how to open its doors, to welcome and receive everyone; where there is love for all and no one is an enemy, where all of us know how to live reconciliation, forgiveness and peace,” Pope Leo said, welcoming those present. Pope Leo recalled that one of the pope’s titles is the “Pontiff — a builder of bridges.” “And today we too want to build a bridge with all of you, with your families, and with the society in which we want to live — a society marked by justice, where the causes of poverty can be eliminated and where the causes of the injustices that still exist in our world can be overcome,” Pope Leo said. “This,” he said, “is the Church we want to be.”