The visit of Pope Leo XIV has come to an end, but for the Diocese of Rimini the journey continues. After the day that brought the Pontiff to the city, the time has now come for gratitude, with two events scheduled for September and a message from Bishop Nicolò addressed to the roughly 600 volunteers who worked on the organization.
«I would like to embrace each of you one by one and thank you personally», the Bishop writes. A thank-you for «the time, the availability, the patience, the effort, the smiles and the spirit with which you served». But the invitation is above all not to consider the experience over: «The Pope’s visit has ended, but what we experienced continues: in our lives, in the Church and in the city».
Behind the organizational machine lie hundreds of stories. Like that of Attilia Sammarini, 62, a nurse from Viserba, who describes the experience as «overwhelming and transformative, exhausting but joyful». Or that of Francesca Gattei, a restorer from Corpolò, who hand-wrote, one by one with a ceramic marker, more than a hundred pyxes used during the Mass at the Port. For her the day also carried a special family meaning, when Leo XIV stopped to greet her mother Luigina and her brother Matteo.
Then there is Simona Lombardini, 54, who from the preparations treasures above all the new relationships formed in the weeks before the visit. «It was nice to step a bit outside the boundaries of your own parish», she recounts, recalling a community made up of different people united around the same goal.
Now Rimini is preparing to turn that gratitude into two public moments. The first will take place on Sunday, September 6 at 5:30 pm in the Cathedral, where Bishop Nicolò will preside over the thanksgiving Mass. The invitation is addressed in particular to the volunteers and to all those who contributed to the visit. A toast in the Curia’s garden is planned afterward.
The second event will instead take the diocese directly to Leo XIV. On Wednesday, September 23, a diocesan pilgrimage to Rome is scheduled, led by the Bishop, with participation in the 10 am general audience in St. Peter’s Square.
After the audience it will be possible to visit St. Peter’s Basilica, while at 2:30 pm a Mass is planned inside the Basilica, presided over by Bishop Nicolò. Departure for Rimini is set for 4 pm. Participants will be asked to wear a blue cap, to make the Rimini delegation immediately recognizable.
Two days to keep alive what happened during the Pontiff’s visit and to answer the Bishop’s call: not to stop at the memory, but to preserve the relationships formed and continue the journey begun together with Leo XIV.
