Continue to manifest the love of the Sacred Heart, Pope tells Roman parish
March 17, 2026
Pope Leo XIV concluded his series of five weekly pastoral visits to parishes in Rome with a March 15 evening visit to the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Ponte Mammolo.
Before the 5:00 Mass, Pope Leo met with young people, the elderly, and the sick; after the Mass, he met with the parish council and bade farewell to all the faithful.
In his Italian-language remarks, the Pope encouraged parishioners to continue to manifest the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by living as a welcoming family. He thanked the parish for offering showers to the homeless and language classes and other services to migrants.
“You represent the parish that has the Sacred Heart of Jesus as its patron,” he said. “What does the heart represent? Love, charity, the great expression of the infinite God; and of God, what is infinite is his love, his grace, his mercy.”
The Pope said that the overflow crowd is a sign of “a living parish, a community of faith, a community that says: ‘Come everyone.’ because in Jesus Christ there is salvation and we want to live, receive and share this great love that the Lord offers us.”
Praising the parish for its ministry to migrants, he said:
I would like to underline the great value of this gesture, because we know—and not only in Italy, but in many parts of the world today—a new attitude is presenting itself where they want to close doors, where they want to say: “Enough! Let no others come!”
And yet we as disciples of Jesus Christ know that the Gospel calls us to live a different spirit. The Gospel tells us that when Jesus comes and says, “I am a stranger. You welcomed me.” And this is a gesture that we make to all the people who truly represent Jesus Christ in our midst.
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