Pope receives Venetian prison inmates on Jubilee pilgrimage

August 08, 2025

Three prison inmates from Venice, accompanied by Patriarch Francesco Moraglia, other diocesan officials, and the prison director, made a Jubilee pilgrimage to Rome that concluded with an August 7 audience with Pope Leo XIV, the Patriarchate of Venice announced.

“I presented to the Pope the whole group and the reasons for this penitential and Jubilee pilgrimage, carried out in part on foot and of particular significance especially for those who live in a state of restriction, and we thanked him for wanting to dedicate time to us and receive us in audience,” Patriarch Moraglia said. “Leo XIV was really very cordial and spoke with all of us as a friend, showing a sincere interest in people and in the various issues dealt with. In the end he also told me that he had been in Venice about twenty years ago and that he still has a splendid memory of the city and the gondoliers.”

The pilgrimage will “leave an indelible mark on the soul, life, and story of these inmates, of the staff and volunteers who are accompanying them, and also of all those who are committed to diocesan ministry directed toward prisons and the reintegration of male and female inmates into social life,” he added.

 

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Further information:

• L’incontro di Papa Leone XIV con tre detenuti veneziani arrivati a piedi a Roma in pellegrinaggio per il Giubileo (Patriarcato di Venezia)
• Pope Leo welcomes Venetian inmates on Jubilee pilgrimage (Vatican News)