Skip to footer

Pope Francis plans to visit Assisi, home of St. Francis

Pope Francis took his name in recognition of Saint Francis, best known for his work with the poor and his love of animals.

|
L'Osservatore Romano / AP / File
Pope Francis kisses the foot of one of the 12 inmates whose feet he washed at the juvenile detention center of Casal del Marmo, Rome, on Maunday Thursday. The gesture of humility made history as the first time a pope has washed the feet of a woman or of a Muslim. 46 young men and women, many Gypsies or North African migrants, are currently detained at the facility.
  • By Associated Press

| VATICAN CITY

Pope Francis plans to visit Assisi, the birthplace of the Italian saint who inspired his name.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Francis will probably make a pilgrimage to the Italian hill town sometime this year. Vatican Radio on Thursday also quoted Vatican officials who recently visited Rio de Janiero as saying details for the pontiff's trip in late July to Brazil were taking shape. Francis will lead Catholic youths in rallies there.

The radio quoted Lombardi as saying otherwise Francis had no immediate travel plans. Lombardi said the pope is happy with his quarters in a Vatican hotel, instead of the Apostolic Palace where past pontiffs have resided. Lombardi said "for now" Francis is staying put in the hotel although his decision to live there isn't "definitive."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Pope Francis plans to visit Assisi, home of St. Francis
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0425/Pope-Francis-plans-to-visit-Assisi-home-of-St.-Francis
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe