In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Peace be with you.

Your Excellencies, brothers and sisters, good morning to you all. Welcome!

Ten years have passed since the tragic sequence of earthquakes that struck your areas. These were events that caused hundreds of victims, enormous destruction and deep sorrow in entire communities, which still bear the wounds today.

In the face of this reality, I would like first of all to listen with you to the Word of God, starting from a text that plays an important role in the Encyclical Magnifica humanitas (cf. n. 8). It is the Book of Nehemiah, which recounts the return of the people to a Jerusalem still in ruins after the devastation wrought by the Babylonians. Nehemiah teaches us a twofold approach. First of all, a communal one: the city, in fact, is reborn not through the work of a single person, but through the shared responsibility of the whole people. Nehemiah also suggests that in order to rebuild, one needs a vision. In such dramatic cases, it is not enough to have good intentions or to rely on disorganized voluntarism. To rebuild, it is necessary to acquire eyes capable of glimpsing, in a ruin, the plan of a house and of a city. It is the gift of a prophetic gaze that can see beyond the rubble something that no one yet sees, a gaze able to discern, within the present evil, the good that is possible and that must be accomplished.

I therefore encourage you to resume the journey with this twofold perspective: on the one hand, the synodal approach in order to build together; on the other, the prophetic vision which, starting from present needs, is able to look ahead and grasp the common good that is to be pursued in practice.

This is how the saints acted. Your land has been blessed by the presence of women and men of God who knew how to live these two dimensions and, in history, to turn evil into good. I think, for example, of Saint Rita of Cascia or Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, who through prayer and the proclamation of the Gospel brought peace to families and communities devastated by hatred and violence. Moved by the same farsightedness, Saint Benedict had already been able to reform and rebuild the Church and society through prayer and work, laying the foundations of what would become today’s Europe. Finally, eight hundred years after his Transitus, we remember Saint Francis of Assisi. Before the crucifix he heard the voice of the Lord saying to him: “Go and repair my house, which, as you see, is falling into ruin” (Second Life by Thomas of Celano: FF 593). He then set about materially restoring several small churches in the area, later understanding that the “house” of which the Lord spoke was the Church herself, which at that time was going through a profound spiritual crisis.

The example of the saints reminds us that hope, if it is not to remain a mere wish, needs above all tangible and urgent responses. For this reason, ten years after the earthquake, every effort must be made so that the material reconstruction takes place as quickly as possible, safely and transparently. Moreover, hope, in order to endure, requires perspective: it must identify points of reference that guide the journey.

In this regard, I would like to point you to the example of another biblical figure involved in the rebuilding of Jerusalem: the prophet Haggai. Living shortly before the governor Nehemiah, he too urged the people to rebuild. Like Nehemiah, he addressed the religious and civil authorities and the people of the city, so that everyone would feel responsible for their common rebirth. His message, however, is very specific: Haggai invites the people, concerned with their own houses and individual needs, not to forget the centre that represented the heart of the Holy City, namely the temple. Indeed, one cannot begin again without first rebuilding what gives meaning and foundation to a community. Otherwise everything remains divided and falls apart. It is therefore a matter of starting again from the centre, starting again from God, from people, from the common good, from relationships. Then our hope will be founded on rock. Thank you.

Dear friends, I encourage you in this work of reconstruction with the words of the prophet Haggai himself: “Take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you” (Hag 2:4).

I thank you for your visit and, invoking the intercession of Most Holy Mary and of your holy Patrons, I wholeheartedly bless all of you and your communities.