🙏 Angelus
Recitation of the Angelus and return to the Vatican
📍 Piazza della Libertà, Castel Gandolfo
On Sunday, August 16, the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time and the day after the Solemnity of the Assumption, Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus for the last time in this stay from Piazza della Libertà in Castel Gandolfo, greeting the faithful and holidaymakers gathered for the mid-August break. In his meditation he comments on the Gospel of the Canaanite woman (Mt 15:21-28), who "insistently seeks to speak with Jesus" and, despite obstacles raised by the disciples and Jesus' own first words, obtains her daughter's healing through humble and persevering faith. The Pope draws two lessons: the importance of a faith that does not lose heart, and the fact that "God's table is prepared for everyone," a call to overcome inequality and discrimination and to let oneself be surprised by God's work beyond already drawn boundaries. After the Marian prayer he renews his appeal for an end to the repeated violence against the Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank, asking the international community to favor the two-state solution for a just and lasting peace; he then hopes that the Mediterranean Games in Taranto will be "a prophecy of peace and brotherhood among peoples," and extends a special blessing to Polish pilgrims visiting the Shrine of Piekary Śląskie. At the end of the prayer, for the second day in a row, the Pope crosses Piazza della Libertà aboard a golf cart to stop among the faithful gathered at the barriers, blessing children and exchanging a few words with them, before returning to the Apostolic Palace where he will remain until Tuesday, August 18. In the following days the Pontiff will return to the Vatican, ahead of the resumption of the Wednesday general audiences, set for August 19 in St. Peter's Basilica, and the pastoral visit to San Marino and the Rimini Meeting on August 22.