Assisi welcomes Mattarella for the eighth centenary of the death of Saint Francis

Assisi welcomes the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, on the occasion of the celebrations of the eighth centenary of the death of Saint Francis in 1226. An event that represents the pinnacle of the celebrations of the Franciscan Jubilee Year, which began on 7 January and will end on the same day in 2027. The Head of State participates, in the Upper Basilica, in the holy mass celebrated by Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference. At the end of the celebration, Mattarella will address a message to the country from the Loggia of the Sacred Convent of Saint Francis in Assisi.

Today's program in Assisi

During the solemn Holy Mass in the Upper Church of San Francesco, the offering of oil and the lighting of the votive lamp of the municipalities of Italy is expected. The oil, usually donated every year, in turn, by an Italian region, is offered this time by Umbria. Furthermore, for the first time, it is the mayor of Assisi, Valter Stoppini, who lights the lamp on behalf of all the Italian municipalities and the entire country. Traditionally, in fact, the Lamp is lit by the mayor of the capital of the region that offers the oil. At midday, then, live listening to the Angelus of Pope Leo XIV on the giant screens located in the square. In the afternoon, at 4pm, in the lower basilica, the celebration of the solemn Second Vespers, presided over by Monsignor Felice Accrocca and the procession up to the upper square, with the distribution of olive branches as a sign of peace, the blessing of Italy and the world from the Dome of the Basilica with the Chartula of St. Francis and the performance of the "Canticle of the Creatures", set to music by Father Domenico Stella, in the churchyard of the upper church, performed by Musical Chapel of the Papal Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi directed by maestro Father Peter Hrdy.

Proietti: "Assisi, land of peace builders"

"Forty years ago the Spirit of Assisi. Right here with Saint John Paul II who called religions to talk about peace", and today again, with Pope Leo, "we are here to pray and ask for peace and to be peacemakers and builders of peace", recalled the President of the Umbria Region, Stefania Proietti, entering the Upper Basilica and underlining the message of peace which today, the Feast of Saint Francis, is reiterated by Assisi. The festival has returned to being a national occasion this year.