Pope Leo XIV visits Sant'Angelo Lodigiano to pray to the heart of Saint Cabrini

Dear brothers and sisters,

I am happy to greet all of you, fellow citizens and compatriots of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini! I thank the Bishop, Monsignor Maurizio Malvestiti, as well as the parish priest, the mayor, and the other civil authorities.

I am here to pay tribute to Mother Cabrini, Patroness of Migrants and the first Saint of the United States of America, who was born here in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano in 1850 and died in Chicago—my hometown—in 1917. When I learned that Sant’Angelo Lodigiano is just a few kilometers from Pavia, I immediately thought I should seize the opportunity… And here I am. Thank you, thank you for your warm welcome! In this way, you show me the love that the Church of Pavia has for the Pope—a love that Mother Cabrini nurtured with singular devotion and obedience.

In fact, when the time came to make the decisive choice regarding the “direction” her religious institute’s mission should take, she wanted the Pope to be the one to point the way. And Leo XIII was clear: “Not to the East, but to the West,” in service to the thousands of Italian emigrants in America, as the Bishop of Piacenza, Saint Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, had already suggested to her.

Through the words of these two enlightened shepherds, Mother Cabrini interpreted the signs of the times and understood that her dream of going to China, following in the footsteps of St. Francis Xavier, was to be realized wherever the need was greatest at that moment.

But, dear sisters and brothers, when we look at the world today, what are we to say? That “sign”—that is, the phenomenon of migration—has entered a different phase, one that is certainly more complex, yet no less capable of challenging the Church.

Let us ask ourselves: if Mother Francesca were alive today, what would her missionary spirit tell her? Or rather, what would the Heart of Christ say to her heart—that of a woman consecrated to Him and to the service of His Kingdom? And what would a Pope like Francis—who, as the son of Italian immigrants, has made service to migrants one of the key priorities of his pontificate—ask of her?

Dear friends, Pope Francis wished for his fourth encyclical, Dilexit nos—which turned out to be his last—to be dedicated to the “human and divine love of the Heart of Christ,” that is, to that mystery of infinite charity which is the sole true “driving force” behind the life of Saint Cabrini, behind all she accomplished, and, even more so, behind how she accomplished it. Well, in this encyclical, Pope Francis writes: “The relevance of devotion to the Heart of Christ is particularly evident in the evangelizing and educational work of numerous religious congregations—both female and male—that have been marked from their very origins by this Christological spiritual experience” (no. 150).

For my part, I have inherited and carried forward the Magisterium of Pope Francis through the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te on love for the poor, and where it speaks of charity in the form of “accompanying migrants,” the figure of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini appears right alongside Saint John Baptist Scalabrini. “Her maternal heart, which could find no rest, reached out to them—the emigrants—everywhere: in slums, in prisons, in mines” (no. 74). She herself wrote: “No work will be too difficult, no land too far away, no person too wounded for the love of the Heart of Jesus and for all those called to be bearers of Christ’s love in the world.”

Brothers and sisters, what could be more relevant today than this charism? I say this here, before the relic of Mother Cabrini’s heart, brought from the Motherhouse in Codogno. I say this as I greet and thank with affection her spiritual daughters, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. What could be more relevant today than a missionary charism dedicated to serving migrants?

I therefore take this opportunity to make an appeal, especially to young people: get to know Saint Frances Cabrini! Read her writings, filled with passion for Jesus and for the mission; her letters, her travel journals, and the notes from her retreats. Anyone who gets to know Mother Cabrini is captivated by her. Her soul was at once contemplative and active; she was immersed in the love of the Heart of Christ, and this gave her an extraordinary capacity for work and strength of spirit, in keeping with the Pauline motto she had chosen for the Institute: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).

I address this appeal in a special way to the Church in Lodi, which has welcomed me today with such affection! And I would like to express it as a wish: may the Church of San Bassiano always be distinguished by those traits that shine forth in this most glorious daughter of hers. Through her example and intercession, may Saint Cabrini help you to be in love with Christ, witnesses to his Gospel with a dynamic and generous spirit, in service to the poorest. May she help you to live out an effective synodality, walking united and striving together for holiness, in the diversity of gifts and ministries. For this, I assure you of my prayers.

Finally, I pray to the Lord for the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in all their communities: May God bless them and renew them in their fidelity to Mother Cabrini’s charism. And may the entire Church look to this wonderful missionary of Love, to learn what it means to serve the Kingdom of God in the midst of history.

To all of you and your loved ones, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing. Thank you!