Assisi: awaiting Pope Francis on the Day of Prayer for Peace
(Vatican Radio) The city of Assisi has seen a good bit of history: from foreign invasions to civil wars to natural disasters, the small hilltop city in Umbria seems to have been in the way of everything; and its most famous native son, Francis, is credited with almost single-handedly repairing a broken – and by some accounts, dying – Church in the early 13th century, and with sparking a renascence of faith and zeal for the Gospel that, eight centuries later, continues to inform and direct the energies of the whole Church and the Catholic faithful throughout the world.
Pope Francis is coming to this place, to pray and to lead the leaders of the world’s religions in supplication to the Lord of creation for the gift of peace.
Thirst for Peace: religions and cultures in dialogue is the theme of this 30th anniversary edition of the World Day of Prayer for Peace, in preparation for which the Community of Sant’Egidio has organized three days of conferences taking the measure of the progress of the work for peace begun in earnest under the visionary leadership of Pope St. John Paul II.
These panels and roundtable discussions are neither incidental, nor peripheral to the Day of Prayer.
A half-dozen of the working sessions began at 8:30 on Tuesday morning – just hours before the scheduled arrival of Pope Francis – and carry the work of the “spirit of Assisi” forward and into the afternoon of prayer – each according to the dictates of conscience – before the final session in the afternoon, during which the representatives of the world’s religions will come together to launch an appeal for peace, a call to all the world’s citizens to labour to lay the firm foundation of justice upon which to build – with God’s help - amity and concord.
Devin Watkins spoke to Chris Altieri, who is in Assisi ahead of the Pope's arrival.
Listen to their conversation:
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