What changed
2026-07-31 07:52 UTC → 2026-07-31 08:57 UTC ·
added
removed
In late July 2026 the Vatican announced a series of high‑profile The papal celebrations for August. summer itinerary proceeded as announced. On 6 August Pope Francis (styled Lev XIV) Leo XIV arrived in Assisi for the GO! Franciscan Youth Meeting, marking the 800th anniversary of Saint Francis’s death. He travelled by helicopter, was slated greeted by Archbishop Felice Accrocca and local officials, answered questions from young participants, and celebrated Mass in the basilica before returning to celebrate the Vatican the same day. Earlier, from 5 July to 27 July he spent 23 days at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, left on 27 July, and returned on 29 July for a Cantico di Pace prayer gathering, with side trips to the Benedictine abbey of Montecassino (20 July) and the Holy Trinity sanctuary in Vallepietra (22 July). The August program continues with the previously announced celebrations: the Transfiguration liturgy in Assisi on 6 August in Assisi, (coinciding with the youth meeting), the Assumption on 15 August Mass in Castel Gandolfo, and to lead Gandolfo on 15 August, a pastoral Eucharist in Rimini on 22 August, followed by and a procession in Castel Gandolfo on 29 August. At Weekly Wednesday Masses, general audiences, Angelus addresses, and the same time, Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore planned a four‑day triduum (2‑5 August) commemorating the historic “Our Lady of the Snows” miracle, with a culminating Mass presided over by Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas. A subsequent release expanded the program, stating that Pope Leo XIV would hold a public Mass every Wednesday of August, resume weekly general audiences, and deliver five Angelus addresses. The schedule reiterated the Assisi and Castel Gandolfo celebrations and added a note that remain in place, as do related notices from UK Catholic parishes (Hucknall, Bulwell and Bestwood) issued their own August liturgical notices. Together the announcements outline a coordinated summer itinerary of papal liturgies and local parish activities across Italy and the United Kingdom. parishes.