A private stop, far from the official ceremonies, yet one carrying deep personal significance. Pope Leo XIV visited the Augustinian nuns of the Rupe monastery in Pennabilli today, after concluding his morning engagements in the Republic of San Marino and before continuing his journey to Rimini. The stop had been included in the day’s official programme.
For Robert Francis Prevost, it was a return to a place he knows well. The Pontiff had already visited the monastery in 2005 and 2009, when he served as prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine.
Leo XIV met, in strictly private form, with the religious community of the Monastery of Saint Anthony of Padua, on the Rupe of Pennabilli. The community today comprises eleven nuns of solemn vows, two professed of temporary vows, a novice and a postulant, their lives shaped by prayer, work and study.
The nuns had eagerly awaited this new meeting. On the eve of the visit, the prioress, Mother Francesca Serreli, spoke of the return of “brother Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV,” recalling the bond built with the community over the years.
The stop in Pennabilli thus proved to be one of the most intimate moments of the Pontiff’s day, a meeting with the Augustinian family before he continued his pastoral visit to Rimini.
