Pope Francis will visit the Italian city of Trieste on 7 July, Sunday, on the occasion of the 50th Social Week of Catholics in Italy.
This is his third trip to the Italian country in 2024 after visiting the cities of Venice and Verona in April and May.
The Social Week of Catholics in Italy is being held from 3 to 7 July under the title “At the heart of democracy: Participating between History and the Future”.
The Holy Father will arrive in this enclave in northwestern Italy early on Sunday morning, July 7, where he will meet with ecumenical representatives, a group of migrants, university students and disabled people.
At 10:30 a.m. (local time), the event will conclude with a Holy Mass in the “Plaza de la Unidad.”
Over the past few days, around a thousand delegates from Italian dioceses have travelled to Trieste. The opening ceremony took place yesterday, Wednesday 3 July, under the leadership of the President of Italy, Sergio Matarella.
This initiative began in 1907 and was held for the first time in the city of Pistoia, in the region of Tuscany.
This event took place every year until the First World War, and during the week topics such as work, education in schools, the status of women and family were addressed.
In 1927, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart played an essential role in its organization, until 1935, when these meetings were suspended.
It was not until the end of World War II that they were resumed, although in 1970 they were suspended for 21 years.
In 1991, the event was held again in Rome with the theme “Italian Catholics and the New Youth of Europe”.
On that occasion, the event was attended by Saint John Paul II, who stated that “Europe today needs to be rethought in the light of its most vital traditions, of the oldest and most authentic expectations of its people, which have their roots in faith in Jesus Christ.”
The President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, also attended the opening of this year’s edition. He recalled that the Church “is a place where one is passionate about one’s neighbour and, therefore, about dialogue.”
“Pandemics have made us understand the sense of common belonging, of a community of destiny, of participation in a collective matter. There is no democracy without a “we.” There is no person without the other,” the Italian prelate said.