Pope Leo visits Italian Carabinieri station, Poor Clares during summer break

CASTEL GANDOLFO (CNS) — As part of his summer break, Pope Leo XIV visited members of the Italian Carabinieri in Castel Gandolfo and the Poor Clares in nearby Albano Laziale.

Riding in a gray Volkswagen sedan, the pope first went to the local headquarters of the Carabinieri, a branch of the Italian military specialized in police work, to celebrate Mass in their chapel. The corps was marking the 75th anniversary of Pope Pius XII’s proclamation of the Virgin Mary, “Virgo fidelis,” as their patron saint.

“After the tragedy of the (Second World) War during a period of moral and material reconstruction, Mary’s fidelity to God thus became a model of every Carabinieri officer’s fidelity to their country and the Italian people,” the pope said in his homily.

It expresses the “dedication, purity and constant dedication to the common good that the Carabinieri defend, guaranteeing public safety and defending everyone’s rights, especially those who find themselves in danger,” he said.

Pope Leo thanked the civil and military authorities who were present at the Mass for what they do.

“Do not give in to the temptation of thinking that evil may have won when facing injustices, which harm social order,” he said. “Especially during this time of war and violence, be faithful to your oath as servants of the state, responding to crime with the force of law and honesty.”

After the Mass, the pope took part in a tree-planting ceremony with top officers. The state forestry department is part of the Carabinieri, which has a division dedicated to biodiversity and conserving and propagating native plant life, particularly rare and threatened species.

Pope Leo helped sprinkle some soil and water on a small cypress tree that had been propagated using small pieces of plant tissue taken from the 830-year-old “Cypress of St. Francis,” the oldest cypress tree in Italy. Located in the cloister of the Franciscan monastery of Verucchio near Rimini, it has survived storms, wars and attempts by Napoleon’s troops to burn it to the ground. Tradition holds that the tree grew from St. Francis’ walking stick.

Pope Leo then went by car to the Monastery of the Poor Clares in Albano Laziale, which was founded in 1631 and borders part of the papal villas.

Accompanied by Bishop Vincenzo Viva of Albano, he prayed with the nuns in their chapel, and he paid homage to a plaque commemorating the lives of 18 Poor Clare nuns who were killed when the Allies bombed the church, causing half of the monastery to collapse.

The surviving nuns scrambled up the wall separating them from the papal villa and called for help from the Swiss guards and Carabinieri on the other side, according to L’Osservatore Romano. About 80 men spent hours digging through the rubble to recover the lifeless bodies.

Pope Leo signed the guest book and received an image of Christ made from olive wood, crafted by the nuns in their woodworking shop at the monastery.

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