Let us work to overcome injustices, Pope says at lunch with poor people

July 11, 2026

Some 200 poor people from the Diocese of Rome traveled to Castel Gandolfo today for lunch with Pope Leo XIV at Borgo Laudato Si.

“I came without a prepared speech, but I did come with hunger—hunger for justice, hunger for genuine charity, hunger for a Church that truly knows how to open its doors, to welcome and receive everyone; where there is love for all and no one is an enemy, where all of us know how to live reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace,” Pope Leo said.

“As you know well,” he continued, “one of the Pope’s titles is Pontiff—a builder of bridges. And today we too want to build a bridge with all of you, with your families, and with the society in which we want to live—a society marked by justice, where the causes of poverty can be eliminated and where the causes of the injustices that still exist in our world can be overcome: this is the Church we want to be.”

Prior to the lunch, the poor people attended Mass concelebrated by Cardinal Fabio Baggio, C.S., the newly appointed pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín, O.S.A., the prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.

 

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Further information:

• "Lunch with the Pope" at Borgo Laudato si' (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 7/11/26)
• Pope Leo at Borgo Laudato si' lunch: 'I came with a 'hunger' for genuine charity' (Vatican News, 7/11/26)