Pope calls for unity at Augustine's tomb as Lefebvrist schism looms

Science and suffering

Pope Leone XIV began his June 20 visit to Pavia at the CNAO, Italy's national centre for oncological hadrontherapy and one of only a handful of facilities worldwide able to deliver proton and carbon-ion therapy. Meeting its president Gianluca Vago and director general Sandro Rossi, the pontiff was told how the centre's synchrotron particle accelerator treats complex, inoperable tumours while sparing healthy tissue. More than 6,000 people, including around 300 children and adolescents, have received treatment there under the national health service.

The most charged moment came when the Pope greeted ten children currently undergoing care. They handed him a handmade gift titled 'Ti ascolto' (I listen to you), a fabric heart sewn from pieces of their own T-shirts. Afterwards he spoke with the roughly 200 doctors, physicists, engineers and researchers who keep the synchrotron running.

Blessing the cradle of life

Moving to Piazza Duomo, Leone XIV blessed a thermal cradle, known as a 'cradle for life', donated by a married couple and destined for the parish of Sant'Alessandro. The cradle allows a newborn to be left safely when the mother feels unable to keep the child. Above it hung an image of the Madonna della Colombina; as a cardinal he had planned to celebrate the end of the Jubilee at that sanctuary, but his election as Pope altered the plan. A parish priest recalled that he sent an email saying his life had changed and he could no longer come. It was the first time a pontiff paused in prayer before the image, which is traditionally invoked by those longing for children.

On the parvis the Pope also blessed bread, flowers and an olive tree symbolising peace, received floral tributes from children, and greeted the city's Latin American community.

At the roots of an Augustinian pope

Inside the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, where the relics of St Augustine have been kept for 1,300 years, about 1,800 faithful gathered. The former Augustinian prior stood in silent prayer before the gilded bronze and crystal urn. His homily resonated far beyond the medieval walls.

“We must grow a Church where we walk together, capable of renewing itself without dividing, where everyone recognises each other as brothers and works with joy for the service of the Kingdom of God.”

He urged communities to centre themselves on what is essential, even if that requires letting go of structures and securities inherited from the past, and underlined the importance of university pastoral care and dialogue with culture.

“Our faith is challenged to glimpse the wine into which the water can be transformed and to discover the wheat that grows among the weeds.”

The shadow of a break

Leone XIV did not name the traditionalist Society of St Pius X, yet his reflections on unity were widely read as a final appeal before 1 July, when the Lefebvrists intend to proceed with the announced episcopal consecrations without papal mandate. The Pope has already signalled a last attempt at dialogue to avert what would be the first schism of his pontificate. The image of wheat growing among weeds, he remarked, takes on particular meaning at such a moment.

Solidarity in grain

The visit also carried a material gesture: farmers of the province of Pavia collected two tonnes of carnaroli rice for the Apostolic Almonry, which will distribute most of it to the poor in Rome and send 800 kilograms to Ukraine. The papal almoner, Msgr. Luis Marín de San Martín, thanked the Italian Confederation of Farmers in a letter, noting that the gift provided relief to the most disadvantaged.

Later the Pope entered the Cathedral to pray before the altar of San Siro, the city's patron, and addressed the crowd from a stage in Piazza Vittoria around 5:30 p.m. before travelling on to Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, the birthplace of Mother Francesca Cabrini.