Pope Francis made a brief apostolic journey to Verona on May 18. The city of 250,000 is only 65 miles from Venice, which the Pope visited on April 28.
Upon his arrival, the Pope met with priests and religious in the Basilica of San Zeno. During the meeting, the Pope spoke about the Lord’s “call, the call received and always to be accepted,” as well as “the mission, to be carried out with boldness.”
The Pope then met with young people and chaired a peace meeting, during which an Israeli and a Palestinian spoke together. The Israeli’s parents were killed by Hamas on October 7; the Palestinian’s brother was killed by Israeli soldiers. The Pope embraced the two of them.
In the afternoon, Pope Francis spoke at a prison and presided at Mass in a stadium. In his extemporaneous homily, the Pope said that “the Holy Spirit gives us the courage to live the Christian life … Listen to the Spirit, pray to the Spirit, and if it is He changing your life, trust the Spirit.”