Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV warmly welcomed Roma, Sinti, and Travelling communities from across the globe at the Jubilee of Roma, Sinti, and Travelling Peoples, held on Saturday in the Paul VI Hall. The Jubilee, marking a historic moment of inclusion and recognition, provided a platform for dialogue, prayer, and the affirmation of the Church’s pastoral care for itinerant communities.
Addressing children and young people during the audience, Pope Leo XIV responded to questions about war and violence, emphasizing the real possibility of peace. “We all want to live in a world without war,” he said. “We must always strive to be promoters of peace, builders of bridges, firmly convinced that peace is possible that it is not only a dream, and that we can live in peace.”
The Pope linked the Jubilee to its biblical inspiration, quoting Deuteronomy: “Hope is on the move my father and mother were wandering Arameans.” He praised the faithful resilience of Roma, Sinti, and Travellers, highlighting their enduring trust in God and steadfast hope, even amidst lives lived on society’s margins.
Pope Leo XIV recalled the Jubilee’s historical roots, commemorating the 60th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s 1965 meeting with itinerant peoples in Pomezia, where he crowned an image of Our Lady as “Queen of the Roma, Sinti, and Travellers.” Reaffirming the Church’s pastoral commitment, the Pope emphasized that itinerant communities are called to witness three enduring truths: trust in God alone, detachment from worldly goods, and the embodiment of faith through words and deeds.
The Pope acknowledged the centuries-long hardships faced by these communities, including marginalization from society, limited access to education, and cultural exclusion. He drew attention to the broader social injustices mirrored in these experiences economic inequalities, financial crises, environmental disasters, and wars that continue to afflict societies worldwide.
Invoking Pope Francis’ 2019 appeal, Pope Leo XIV encouraged Roma, Sinti, and Travellers to move forward with dignity: the dignity of the family, work, earning an honest living, and prayer. “May the dignity of work and the dignity of prayer be your strength in breaking down walls of mistrust and fear,” he said.
The Pope noted that their peoples have travelled as pilgrims and nomads for over a thousand years, as other societies have cast them aside and pushed them to the margins of cities, rights, education, and culture.
“And yet, the very model of society that has marginalized you and made you wanderers without peace or welcome,” he said, “is the same model that has, over the past century, produced the greatest social injustices on a global scale: enormous economic inequalities between persons and peoples, unprecedented financial crises, environmental disasters, and wars.”
Pope Leo XIV went on to invite the Roma, Sinti, and Traveller peoples to heed Pope Francis’ appeal to them in 2019, in which he asked them to harbor no resentment but rather to move forward with the “dignity of the family, the dignity of work, the dignity of earning your daily bread, and the dignity of prayer.”
“May the dignity of work and the dignity of prayer be your strength in breaking down walls of mistrust and fear,” added Pope Leo.
At the same time, he said, itinerant peoples need to embrace their evangelizing mission in the Church, concluding with a call for them to exhibit the beauty of their culture.
“Be protagonists of the epochal change now underway,” he said, “walking alongside other people of goodwill wherever you live, moving beyond mutual distrust, making known the beauty of your culture, sharing faith, prayer, and the bread that comes from honest work.”
The Pope also called on itinerant peoples to embrace their evangelizing mission within the Church, using their unique culture as a source of inspiration and dialogue. “Be protagonists of the epochal change now underway,” he urged. “Walk alongside other people of goodwill wherever you live, move beyond mutual distrust, share the beauty of your culture, your faith, your prayer, and the bread that comes from honest work.”
Pope Leo XIV’s message highlighted the importance of inclusion, dialogue, and cultural recognition, affirming that itinerant communities are vital participants in the life of the Church. The Jubilee served as both a celebration of their enduring faith and a call to action for building a more just and peaceful world.