After praying the Angelus the Pope recalled that yesterday in Codrongianos, Italy, Elisabetta Sanna (1788-1857) was proclaimed blessed. A native of the Italian island of Sardinia, she was a mother who after being widowed dedicated herself fully to prayer and service to the sick and the poor. Her witness is a model of evangelical charity inspired by faith.

The Holy Father also mentioned that today in Genoa the Italian National Eucharistic Congress came to an end, and greeted all the faithful gathered there, expressing his hope that this event of grace may renew in the Italian people faith in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, in which we adore Christ, wellspring of life and hope for every human being.

This coming Tuesday, 20 September, the Pope will travel to Assisi for the prayer meeting for peace, thirty years after the historic event convened by St. John Paul II, and he invited parishes, ecclesial associations and individual faithful around the world to live the moment as a day of prayer for peace. “Today, more than ever, we are in need of peace amid this war that is everywhere in the world. Let us pray for peace! Following the example of St. Francis, a man of brotherhood and meekness, we are all called to offer to the world a powerful witness of our common commitment to peace and reconciliation between peoples. So on Tuesday, let us all join in prayer: may each one take the time, whatever he or she can spare, to pray for peace. All the world united”.