Vatican City, Jul 5, 2016 / 06:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Monday, it was announced that Pope Francis will make a private pilgrimage to Assisi early next month to celebrate the eighth centenary of the dedication of the Portiuncula chapel, the site where the Franciscan order began.
On Aug. 4, the Pope will visit the small chapel, which is located within the larger Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, according to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, head of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. The visit was announced July 4 by Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi and representatives of the Franciscan order.
The papal pilgrimage will come two days after the 800th anniversary of the “Pardon of Assisi,” a Franciscan feast which commemorates St. Francis persuading Pope Honorius III to allow pilgrims to receive a plenary indulgence at the Portiuncula.
Last week, Pope Francis remembered the Portiuncula – translated as the “little portion” – during celebrations of the 65th anniversary of Benedict XVI's priestly ordination. In his June 28 address, the Pope the described the site as “a hidden corner near the Mother of the Church, near Mary whom, because of her steadfast faith and a life entirely lived for the love of the Lord and in His love, all generations will call blessed.”
According to tradition, St. Francis experienced a vision of Jesus and Mary in the Portiuncula chapel on Aug. 1, 1216, during which he prayed that all pilgrims to the chapel would receive a plenary indulgence; the prayer was granted on the condition that he received permission from the Pope.
The site is also believed to be where St. Clare – who founded the Franciscan Poor Clares – was officially received into the order by St. Francis in 1211.
Last year, Pope Francis marked the Pardon of Assisi -- celebrated as the feast of Our Lady of the Angels of Porziuncola -- during his weekly Angelus address by stressing the importance of the sacrament of Confession.
The feast “is a powerful reminder to bring ourselves closer to the Lord in the Sacrament of Mercy, and to receive Communion,” he said during his Aug. 2, 2015 address.
Pope Francis has previously visited the medieval town, which is located in the heart of the Italian region of Umbria. Several months after his 2013 election to the papacy, the Pope spent a day in Assisi to celebrate the Oct. 4 feast of St. Francis.
The Assisi-born founder of the Franciscan order has held special significance for the current Pope, who took the name Francis upon his election to the papacy. A few days after after taking office, the pontiff told journalists he chose the name because St. Francis of Assisi “is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation; these days we do not have a very good relationship with creation, do we?”
A plenary indulgence can be received on Aug. 2 by anyone who visits a Catholic church with the intention of honoring Our Lady of the Angels and recites the Creed, the Our Father, and prays for the Pope's intentions, along with fulfilling other conditions.
Article Archive
Pope to mark Franciscan feast day with pilgrimage to Assisi
Related Articles • More Articles
A Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish procession honoring the patroness of Cuba on Sept. 7, 2023. / Credit: Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Havana, CubaACI Prensa Staff, Mar 28, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).The regime of President Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba has prohibited several Holy Week processions in different cities of the country, including the El Vedado area of Havana as well as in Bayamo, a town that was the scene of major protests earlier this month.Last week, ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, reported on the prohibition of processions in the Diocese of the Most Holy Savior located in the Bayamo-Manzanillo area in the province of Granma, due to the regime's fear that new protests would break out. The prohibition has been extended to the capital, Havana, according to a Catholic priest.In a March 25 Facebook post, Father Lester Zayas, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in the El Vedado business district of Havana, reported that the day before he had been notifie...
The Catholic faithful gathered in the Cenacle in Jerusalem for the Mass of the Lord's Supper that the Franciscan friars celebrated on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024. The Cenacle is at the center of strong tensions and disputes regarding ownership and rights of access and celebration. An ancient tradition places King David's tomb here and over the centuries Jews and Muslims have leveraged this to first expel the Franciscans and then to prevent Christian worship, which they deemed sacrilegious. / Credit: Marinella BandiniJerusalem, Mar 28, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).On Holy Thursday, the doors of the Cenacle in Jerusalem were opened to welcome the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land. In this "Upper Room," called the Cenacle in the Holy Land, Jesus had his Last Supper, washed his apostles' feet, and instituted the Eucharist. It was here that the Franciscans celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper, reenacting those same gestures. (At the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher,...
The Oregon State Capitol in Salem. / Credit: Zack Frank/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is reporting a significant rise in assisted suicide prescriptions and deaths in the state, a move that comes after authorities in 2022 began allowing out-of-state residents to access the lethal services.Since the state's passage of the "Death with Dignity Act" in 1997, assisted suicide numbers have been generally rising there, with a markedly sharp uptick since 2013. OHA on March 20 released its 2023 assisted suicide data summary that reported a considerable increase in suicide prescriptions in 2023. The study found that assisted suicide prescriptions in the state rose from 433 in 2022 to 560 last year.Of those 560 prescriptions, 367 people are known to have died from ingesting the suicide "medications." This is up from the 304 who died from assisted suicide drugs in Oregon in 2022.Over half, or 56%, of the assisted ...