Friday afternoon, the Holy Father Leo XIV left the Vatican to travel to the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo where, at 4:00 p.m., he inaugurated the “Laudato si’ Village.” Here is the English translation of Pope Leo XIV’s Homily (in Italian) delivered to those present:
In the Gospel passage from Matthew that we have just heard, Jesus offers several teachings to his disciples. I would like to dwell on one of them, which seems particularly suited to this celebration. He says: “Look at the birds of the air … Consider how the lilies of the field grow” (Mt 6:26, 28).
It is not unusual for the Master of Nazareth to refer to nature in his teachings. Flora and fauna often play a central role in his parables. But in this case there is a clear invitation to observe and contemplate creation, actions meant to help us grasp the Creator’s original design.
Everything has been wisely ordered from the beginning, so that all creatures may contribute to the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. Every creature has an important and specific role in his plan, and each is “good,” as the Book of Genesis emphasizes (cf. Gen 1:1–29).
In the same Gospel passage, referring to the birds and the lilies, Jesus poses two questions to his disciples: “Are you not of more value than they?” and then: “If God so clothes the grass of the field, … will he not much more clothe you?” (Mt 6:30).
Almost implicitly recalling the account of Genesis, Jesus underlines the special place reserved, in the act of creation, for the human being: the most beautiful creature, made in the image and likeness of God. But to this privilege is joined a great responsibility: that of caring for all other creatures, in accordance with the Creator’s design (cf. Gen 2:15).
The care of creation, then, is truly a vocation for every human being—a task to be carried out within creation itself, never forgetting that we are creatures among creatures, and not creators. This is why it is important, as my Predecessor wrote, to “recover a serene harmony with creation, in order to reflect on our lifestyle and our ideals, to contemplate the Creator who lives among us and in what surrounds us” (Encyclical Laudato si’, 225).
The Borgo Laudato si’, which we inaugurate today, presents itself as one of the Church’s initiatives aimed at realizing this “vocation to be guardians of God’s work” (Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum, 217): a demanding yet beautiful and fascinating task, which forms a fundamental part of the Christian experience.
The Borgo Laudato si’ is a seed of hope that Pope Francis has left us as an inheritance, a “seed that can bear fruits of justice and peace” (Message for the 10th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation). And it will do so by remaining faithful to its mission: to be a tangible model of thought, structure, and action, capable of fostering ecological conversion through education and catechesis.
What we see today is a synthesis of extraordinary beauty, where spirituality, nature, history, art, work, and technology are intended to dwell together in harmony. This, ultimately, is the idea of the borgo: a place of closeness and convivial nearness.
And all of this cannot fail to speak to us of God.
Crux Stationalis 