Three inmates from Venice’s Santa Maria Maggiore Prison are among a group of pilgrims received by Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican yesterday. Source: Vatican News.
The group’s Jubilee pilgrimage of almost 500 kilometres included traversing the final hundred kilometres, from the Italian town of Terni to Rome, on foot.
The pilgrims were accompanied to the audience by the Patriarch of Venice, Archbishop Francesco Moraglia, prison chaplain Fr Massimo Cadamuro, and archdiocesan officials.
“The meeting with Pope Leo truly brings to completion this experience of ours, a journey and a pilgrimage, undertaken entirely under the banner of a trustworthy hope, which represents a necessary dimension for the authentic life of all people, both free and incarcerated,” Fr Cadamuro said before the meeting.
“Having been able to undertake this pilgrimage together makes everything stronger, truer, more authentic.”
Santa Maria Maggiore Prison director Enrico Farina was also present yesterday.
In remarks prior to the audience, he said, the opportunity to allow inmates to take part “in an intense human and spiritual journey” fills him “with pride”.
He noted, too, that the inmates will be given a blank diary containing reflections and prayers inspired by “this deeply meaningful journey” and said he was honoured to share the moment with the pilgrims.
Following on from a Jubilee audience for seminarians from Venice and the surrounding area in June, yesterday’s encounter is “another great gift from Pope Leo”, who accepted the inmates request for an audience at the end of their pilgrimage, according to Archbishop Moraglia.
The Jubilee pilgrimage, along with the opportunity to meet with Pope Leo, is part of the Venice Archdiocese’s “ongoing and comprehensive commitment” to the pastoral care of inmates in local prisons.
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Pope Leo welcomes Venetian inmates on Jubilee pilgrimage (Vatican News)
