Imitate St. Frances Cabrini’s service to migrants, Pope says as he venerates her heart
June 20, 2026
Pope Leo XIV visited the hometown of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini this evening and called upon the faithful to imitate her missionary service to migrants.
The Pontiff’s visit to the Parish of Saints Anthony and Frances Cabrini in the northern Italian town of Sant’Angelo Lodigiano followed a visit to nearby Pavia this afternoon. During his visit to the parish, Pope Leo adored the Blessed Sacrament and venerated Cabrini’s heart (video).
After recalling that he was born in Chicago, where Cabrini died, Pope Leo said that Cabrini’s “motherly heart, which allowed her no rest, reached out to them—the emigrants—everywhere: in hovels, prisons and mines. She herself wrote: ‘No work will be too difficult, no land too far away, no person too wounded for the love of the Heart of Jesus and for all those invited to be bearers of Christ’s love in the world.’“
Pope Leo commented, “Brothers and sisters, what could be more timely than this charism? ... What could be more topical than a missionary charism that places itself at the service of migrants?”
The Pope added:
I therefore take this opportunity to make an appeal, especially to young people: know St Frances Cabrini! Read her writings, full of passion for Jesus and for the mission; her letters, her travel diaries, the notes of her retreats. Those who know Mother Cabrini are won over.
Her soul was at once contemplative and active; she was immersed in the love of the Heart of Christ and this gave her an extraordinary capacity for work and strength of spirit ... May the whole Church look to this stupendous missionary of Love, to learn what it means to serve the Kingdom of God in the midst of history.
Pope Leo then left Sant’Angelo Lodigiano and flew back to Rome.
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